(Jackson, Mn.)– Cities and counties in Minnesota have started their budgeting processes for the upcoming year. City officials in Jackson have set a preliminary levy that would represent a 25 percent increase over the current one. They say the number is based off a valuation of $500,000 for a commercial building and $200,000 for residential property. City Administrator Jim Langborg says this is just part of the process to get the final number that will be set in December…
“Keep in mind this is the preliminary number, it’s not necessarily the final number and typically what cities will do or governmental bodies will do, is they will come in at a higher number and then try and go down from there. The reason for that is that we’re required to set a preliminary rate at a certain level but we cannot go above the preliminary level. So in this case because we’re still looking at some different ways to trim the budget and make sure that operations meet and fit with what we can afford, we hit at a higher level with the intent of actually going down.”
Langborg says they are putting in a lot of work behind the scenes…
“The Finance Committee is meeting weekly, we’re going through the budget with a fine toothed comb. There’s a lot of things happening behind the scenes obviously at the staff level, to do some research and to ensure that we have accurate information so that good decisions can be made.”
He adds the action of setting a preliminary tax rate gives the city flexibility during the budgeting process and ensures compliance with state deadlines.
