The city annually accomplishes a budget. With that, both revenues and expenditures are
reviewed to meet the goals and needs of each department. Doing this requires a
look at each line item of the budget and we determine whether it should be
increased, kept the same or reduced.
Sometimes the budget ends up being more than is needed and at times we
don’t budget enough. This review is
accomplished for expenditures and revenues.
Revenues come from general categories such as charges for services,
licenses and permits, assessments, and investment income. Once expenditures are determined and other
revenues understood the budget is balanced with the property tax levy. Most of the revenues the city receives come from
property taxes.
The levy is accomplished in a couple of steps. A preliminary budget is developed in the
summer months for the following year.
That preliminary budget leads to a preliminary levy. The preliminary levy is a “not to exceed
amount”. It can be reduced but it can’t
be increased. It is certified to the
county no later than the end of September.
The county then uses that number to calculate the preliminary tax rate
and resultant proposed tax for each parcel of property. This is sent out to property owners ahead of
the public budget meeting that is held in December.
It can be very difficult to get good budget numbers for some
expenses when you consider we are trying to budget for expenses that could
occur 18 months later. There are also
issues such as health insurance costs that aren’t quoted until after the
preliminary levy is accomplished. Union
contracts can also affect budgeting for wage rates. Other expenses can sometimes be very preliminary
in nature. Having the time between the
preliminary and final levy gives the city additional time to fine tune the
budget and the resultant final levy amount.
Given a number of unknowns with the 2018 budget the Finance
Committee of the City Council recommended the council start the preliminary
levy at a 4 percent increase. As numbers
for various expenses become firmer the levy can be adjusted if desired downward. As noted however the levy can’t be adjusted
upward.
The city council adopted a total preliminary levy of
$1,963,482 for 2018 budget cycle.
