Iolans will pay more for their trash service, and if a proposed 2017 budget is approved next month, will spend more in property taxes next year.
City Council members on Monday scheduled an Aug. 8 hearing to discuss, and presumably approve, Iola’s 2017 $30 million budget.
The spending plan is supported in part by an ad valorem tax rate of 44.899 mills, 2 mills above what local property owners are paying this year.
For some perspective, the owner of a $100,000 home would spend a shade over $516 in property taxes to support Iola’s budget, or about $23 more than the $494 spent this year.
In the end, Council members agreed that paring spending any more would prevent the city from replenishing its utility reserves.
In addition to the 2-mill increase, the city has scaled back spending in other areas. For example, the city will eschew purchasing rock for its chip-and-seal projects next year, saving about $100,000, a maneuver possible because Iola “recycled” used rock this year.
In addition, the Council approved a measure to stretch out its chip-and-seal program, so that each residential street is resurfaced every five years and not every four.
Iola also is ending its relationship with Van Scoyoc and Associates, a Washington, D.C., lobbying firm, at another savings of $25,000 for 2016 and $50,000 for 2017. The city is reallocating $15,000 of that savings into an industrial fund for economic development.
As a means to boost revenue, the Council approved a hike in trash collection fees from $8.50 to $10.50 a month.
THE BUDGETwas approved following an hour’s worth of spirited debate amongst the Council members.
Austin Sigg argued initially the city should either approve higher trash rates or property taxes, but not both.
“We had a problem, and we solved the problem” with proposed cutbacks discussed at the Council’s July 11 meeting, Sigg said.
Nevertheless, Sigg said he was willing to compromise, and he relented — voting for both the higher property tax and trash collection rates — after City Administrator Carl Slaugh noted the high cost of maintaining and improving the city’s infrastructure, particularly with ongoing struggles with its water fund.
“Yes, we can make cuts, but the reality is, you don’t have any money” for maintenance and equipment replacement otherwise, Slaugh said.
