Council Reduces Budget Cda Property Taxes Go Down After $58,450 Cutback

City taxpayers will get a 1 percent reduction in their property taxes after the City Council trimmed $58,450 from next year’s budget Tuesday evening.

The cuts will have to be approved as part of the final budget, scheduled for the council’s Sept. 5 meeting. That’s expected to happen.

The council spent two meetings combing through the 1995-96 spending plan, and voted for about two dozen cuts. Those reductions include $18,500 earmarked to maintain the grassy median strip on Ramsey Road and other streets, $2,000 for travel to National League of Cities meetings, and $3,000 for electrical bills that staff believes can be covered with conservation measures.

Some $6,000 in savings will come from delaying hiring for some vacant city positions, and another $5,500 is being trimmed from the training budget for a variety of city workers. The council also voted not to spend $4,200 to change the health benefits package for it and the mayor.

It’s not clear the city will actually save money, depending upon how much council members use the health care plan. But some council members thought the public might regard the expenditure as a veiled pay increase.

The council decided against cutting funds for lifeguards at city pools, decreasing dollars set aside for bike paths, and cutting a part-time fire department secretary and a part-time fire hydrant maintenance worker.

It voted to add $2,800 to the city budget for the city band and another $750 for the Arts Commission. The city band normally receives $2,500 a year, but was omitted from the preliminary city budget.

The council divided up $226,000 in unexpected revenue, a one-time dividend resulting from the state getting out of the liquor warehousing business. Street paving will get $85,000 of the money, $100,000 goes to vehicle and equipment replacement, $15,000 will be used to finish the skateboard park and about $26,000 will go for a parking lot at Stokes Field, a city soccer facility.

The council cancelled a third budget hearing scheduled for Thursday.

, DataTimes