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City finance staff asks council whether to build two years of 3% property tax increases into biennial budget; council signals support for at least one year
Summary
Finance staff presented a property-tax analysis and a debt-reduction plan that depends on several revenue items (SRO contract, red-light cameras, sale of city property). Councilors expressed support for including the annual 3% tax-rate increase in the coming budget year and asked staff to model follow-up scenarios.
City finance staff presented an information session on Feb. 3 about whether the council should build the allowed annual property-tax rate increase (an extra local 3% step beyond the state’s standard growth assessment) into the city’s two-year budget planning.
Finance staff warned that the city faces several rising, unavoidable costs — notably larger-than-expected Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) rate increases and higher health-insurance costs — and outlined a debt-reduction plan that relies on three revenue sources: a School Resource Officer (SRO) contract (projected at about $265,000), revenue from red‑light cameras (previously estimated at $250,000 but not realized this year), and proceeds from sale of the Butler property (about $245,000 projected). City staff said the principal remaining on the communication‑tower debt is roughly $1.3 million and that the municipal…
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