HUMBOLDT — Humboldt council members unanimously approved a budget for 2013 that includes a property tax levy increase of 9.598 mills.
Provided the budget is approved at a public hearing on Aug. 13, the total levy will be 73.172.
While it would be the city’s highest levy ever, it is the first increase of consequence in 10 years.
City Administrator Larry Tucker noted that between 2001 and 2011 (when the levy for this year was approved), the levy crept up by just 4.35 percent, from 60.922 mills to this year’s 63.574.
Also, he pointed out that the increase in tax dollars would not be significant for homeowners.
Tucker gave several examples of what the levy increase would mean, with additional costs tempered a tad by a drainage fee of $1 a month being removed from utility bills. For a home valued at $50,000, the increase would be $43.20 a year or $3.60 a month; for one valued at $100,000, $98.40 a year and $8.20 a month; for a house valued at $150,000, $153 a year and $12.80 a month.
“For the owner of a $50,000 home, the increase will be the equivalent of a gallon of gasoline a month,” was Tucker’s rationale.
General fund expenditures are forecast at $1,087,554 next year, up from this year’s $916,247. The only other fund requiring a levy, debt service on City Hall improvements, will see a drop from 1.844 mills to 1.204.
“That will get less each year as we pay off the loan,” Tucker said.
AMONG THINGS that led to the higher levy and expenditures were:
• Adding a Parks Department supervisor to the Public Works Department.
Tucker said improvements to parks and the swimming pool prompted the proposal.
The city has had Cannon and Camp Hunter (South) parks for years and this year added a park west of the Neosho River, including a performance area, nature trail and fishing dock. The city has been given land along Franklin Street near the new senior housing complex where Tucker wants to develop a fourth park. The pool recently was improved and expanded, which demands more attention.
Also, an arrangement with the Justice Department means park facilities have to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
In addition to the supervisor, $30,000 new money is in the 2013 budget for parks improvements.
— Improvements in public safety and communications.
