The proposed budget for the city of Jefferson for fiscal year 2017, beginning July 1, 2016, decreases the residential levy rate 4 cents to $15.22513 (per thousand dollars of taxable valuation). A public hearing will be held Tuesday, March 8, at the beginning of the regular council meeting at 5:30 pm on the second floor of city hall.
Total taxable valuation for regular property in Jefferson is $120,007,870, an increase of 1.89 percent. Agricultural property is valued at $1,538,994, an increase of 21.66 percent. The levy on agricultural land is unchanged at $3.00375.
The levies will raise a total of $1,845,283, compared to $1,809,509 re-estimated for the current fiscal year (ending June 30).
The proposed FY ’17 budget calls for total revenues/transfers in of $8,686,746, compared to re-estimated FY ’16 revenues/transfers of $7,935,067. Total revenue includes charges for fees and services (water, sewer, garbage/recycling), other taxes and more.
According to city clerk Diane Kennedy, $400,000 of the $527,000 increase in transfers in is a change in accounting for LOSST funds.
The new budget calls for total expenditures of $5,997,245, an increase of $235,000, compared to the current year. Expenditures and transfers out total $8,003,224 for the coming year, compared to $7,311,251 in the current year.
The budget includes an increase of $97,000 for culture and recreation. Kennedy said that includes the Jefferson park and recreation department, Jefferson Community Golf Course, the library and the cemetery. Of the increase, $50,000 will cover a second layer of sealcoat on the roads in both city-operated cemeteries.
The FY 17 budget projects a beginning fund balance (July 1, 2016) of $8,797,355 and an ending fund balance of $9,480,877.
Kennedy said the fund balance includes 56 smaller earmarked funds. For example, water and sewer rates include an amount that goes into a fund for eventual replacement of the water plant and the wastewater treatment plant. The 10 funds with the largest balances are very “project oriented,” Kennedy said, and account for $3.7 million of the fund balance, or 39 percent.
The impact of Wild Rose Casino on the city’s total taxable valuation will not be seen until FY 18. Valuations used for FY 17 are based on property as it was Jan. 1, 2015. Wild Rose Casino is taxed as commercial property; it will pay the same rate as regular property on 90 percent of the total assessed value (before calculating available business credits). Owners of residential property pay taxes on 55 percent of the total assessed value.
