5-1 vote approves increase in city’s max tax levy

   There was a hot-button issue on the Feb. 20 Monticello City Council agenda concerning the upcoming Fiscal Year 2024 city budget.

   Several people addressed the council during the public hearing on the matter.

   Steve Intlekofer commented that the 14.49 percent increase regarding the proposed maximum tax levy “is a bit steep.” He told the council they were not taking in account an additional revenue source from the county, to the tune of $135,000, as well as $95,000 he said would be coming from the townships.

   He also felt hiring additional staff for various city departments during uncertain times right now wasn’t necessary. He urged the city to consider contracting or subcontracting for services to save some money.

   Mary Phelan offered that with the tax rate increase, her taxes will go up over 40 percent.

   “That’s alarming,” she said. “It makes it difficult to justify living within the city limits. The bottom line is this: An old adage, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Raising taxes should always be a last resort after exhausting all possibilities of economizing in each and every department. As the fiscal agents and representatives of this community, I expect nothing less.”

   Audrey Savage commented, “It seems you’re putting the cart before the horse. You should establish what you need for a budget and then see what the public feels about the increase. Do we really need to add people? I question that.”

   Savage said one way to save money is to have a mass volunteer day where people spend an entire day taking care of needed projects throughout the city.

   “This will lift the attitude in this community and the fear of the public,” she said.

   City Administrator Russ Farnum laid out the history of the city’s proposed max levy in the amount of $1,923,561, or a 14.49 percent increase from the current budget of $1,680,366.

   “The city’s budget has $4.4 million in expenses this year,” he said. “Of that, $1.9 million is paid for by property taxes. That’s 43 percent of the overall budget.

   “No one wants to propose a tax increase, least of all me,” continued Farnum.

   “State rollbacks have impacted our budget from a tax standpoint. In the coming legislative session, the state already introduced legislation, which does not play into the levy proposed tonight, threatening to take away our local option sales tax, which was approved by the voters of Jones County as property tax offset. The state is threatening to take that away to the tune of $500,000 a year.

   “The last 18 years,” said Farnum, “the city has kept its levy rate virtually the same, at just under $14 per $1,000 of value. By keeping that low, it certainly demonstrates frugality on the city’s part. It makes it hard to balance a checkbook at the end of the day and budget for all of those things that the council and taxpayers want to see accomplished.

   “The increased proposal this year plays catch-up to a degree. Last year, we did do major budget cuts before the adoption of the budget to stay under our max levy to keep the rate the same.

   “We need to adjust wage scales and benefits to be competitive,” Farnum said. “Some of our salaries and wages need to be adjusted anywhere from 5 to 33 percent.”

   Farnum also offered data on taxes statewide via the state’s department of management… He pinpointed 50 communities with a 2020 population of between 3,000 and 5,000.

   “In terms of tax rate, we’re 24 out of 50,” he said. “If we adopt this updated tax rate, we’d be ranked 40 out of 50. The more telling tale is property taxes collected per person. Out of 50, Monticello currently ranks 18^th, which makes us the 18^th most efficient in use of property tax dollars. Our proposed rate would put us at 34 out of 50.”

   “We have to raise taxes,” noted Mayor Dave Goedken, “especially with the increase in inflation and the devaluation (of property).

   “If we raise taxes, even one year, we’ll never go back down,” commented Council member Brenda Hanken.

   “This is not set in stone,” Council member Chris Lux said. “We could go lower as we work through the budget.”

   The council approved the FY 2024 maximum levy rate by a vote of 5-1. Hanken was opposed.