(Okoboji)– Area cities are putting the finishing touches on their budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. In Okoboji, City Administrator Michael Meyers says residents in that city will be seeing a reduction in the tax asking…
“What’s being represented to our residents is a property tax levy of $3.99 per thousand, which presently we are at $4.75 per thousand, so this is a 16 percent decrease in our general fund levy, I should say our total tax levy which includes our general fund and debt service levy. So we’re looking at an overall decrease of 16 percent. As part of new legislation that was passed residents will receive a mailing that outlines exactly what we’re doing, it will show the $3.99 property tax, it will show expected revenues for the city based upon that levy, and what it would do to $100,000 in valuation compared to previous years.”
Meyers says the budget includes a major road project that’s coming up…
“Perhaps the most significant one would be the mill and overlay of Stakeout Road which is right here by city hall. That includes not only the mill and overlay but the widening of it as well to increase visibility. We know that’s highly utilized by pedestrians, cyclists, traffic and it’s just an opportunity to make that a little safer of a corridor. So the intent is to pay for that project, it’s approximately $675,000. The intent of that is to pay cash for it through our year over year savings. I think the Finance Committee, at least since I’ve been here, over the past five or six years has been building that in an effort to avoid taking on debt and bonding and this will be one of those big projects that we pay dollar for dollar out of our cash reserves.”
A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held April 9th.
