Council approves $7.3 million budget

By REBECCA MCKINSEY
r.mckinsey@carrollspaper.com

Jefferson’s city budget is up slightly this year — although tax rates have dropped a tad.

Casino revenues and a proposed water and sewer increase will help to make up the difference, City Clerk Diane Kennedy said.

The budget for fiscal year 2015–16, which begins July 1, totals $7.3 million, up from $6.9 million last year.

The tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year decreased by 2 cents from last year, to $15.26 per $1,000 of property value. Last year’s rate also indicate a 2-cent decrease. The agriculture land rate will stay the same at $3.004 per $1,000 of property value.

Property values are down slightly from last year, from $121,154,451 with gas and electric to $120,866,664. Agricultural land values are also down, from $1,738,384 to $1,264,944.

The budget is fairly evenly divided between the general and proprietary funds, Kennedy said. The latter, which includes water, sewer, airport and garbage funds, are fee-based and support themselves.

Additional revenue will come from the casino — estimated at $148,000 — and proposed 3 percent water and sewer increases that the council has not yet voted on, Kennedy said.

There were no requests that could not be filled while completing this year’s budget, she said.

Last year, there were several requests that were sent back, including car computers for the police department, a new digging truck for the cemetery, some library building improvements and an upgrade to LED lights at the community gym.

The first two requests have now been completed, through donations for police car computers and a donated truck, Kennedy said. The LED lights upgrade is an ongoing process but wasn’t included in the city budgeting process this year. And the library received a flat amount of $265,000, up from $257,000 last year, that it can spend as it chooses, she said.

This year’s budget does not include funding for major capital projects, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be amended to accommodate projects later in the year if they come up, Kennedy said.

The budgeting process for the upcoming fiscal year was fairly straightforward, without major changes.

“It was pretty status quo this year,” Kennedy said.

But next year’s will be more challenging, she added, because of several legislative changes, including the switch from commercial-rate taxation to residential-rate taxation of apartments and condos, which will mean less money coming back to the city.