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Council sets preliminary millage, schedules hearings as debate flares over assessments and reserves
Summary
Council adopted a preliminary millage of 3.2564 mills and set tentative hearings while debating increases to road/drainage and water-control assessments and a proposed solid‑waste fee; councilors called for additional data, reserve protections and staged outreach before final votes.
Town staff presented a preliminary budget package on July 7 that set maximum rates the council may adopt following public hearings in September and prompted extended debate over tax and assessment increases.
Staff recommended keeping the operating millage flat at a maximum preliminary 3.2564 mills, increasing the road and drainage assessment to $310 per acre, and estimating a $300 per unit solid‑waste assessment. Finance staff noted strong growth in taxable values and outlined how the proposed rates would support transfers to capital improvement and reserves while maintaining services.
Vice Mayor Sood urged restraint and proposed lowering the operating millage to 3.10 mills while maintaining the existing road assessment at $220 per acre to ease pressure on long-term residents and households on fixed incomes. He argued the town should first pursue administrative efficiencies and use existing one-time funds (including prior budgeted reserves and expected reimbursements) before raising the tax burden. “I am not in the favor of burdening our taxpayers today so that next year, when the referendum passes, the next council decides,” he said.
Council member Kane noted the preliminary nature of the vote: the council can lower but not raise the maximum millage later in the budget cycle, and set hearing dates of Sept. 8 (first hearing) and a tentative Sept. 23. Staff also explained that pending state-level proposals to expand the homestead exemption could reduce property-tax revenue by hundreds of thousands of dollars in future years, making prudent reserve planning more important.
On related items, the council set a single public hearing (Sept. 8) to consider the $300 solid-waste assessment and set the water-control district acreage assessment at $310 per acre for the same hearing. Council discussion centered on equity (which properties pay assessments), the possibility of creating tailored assessment districts for commercial/impervious areas, and whether transfers from the general fund should continue instead of shifting cost to every parcel.
Next steps: staff will publish required notices and bring supplemental financial detail, AP aging and fund‑flow reports to FACT and council work sessions. The council’s preliminary votes allow time for public hearings and final adopted rates in September.
