9/28/2009 4:00:00 PM Taxes: How does your city stack up?
By David Schueller
Cities and other government bodies have once again undergone the annual ritual of setting preliminary tax levies for next year.
Now that the preliminary numbers are set, the amounts can be decreased but not increased before becoming final near the end of 2009.
Because of a state law change, the public hearing that was called a truth-in-taxation hearing doesn't need its own separate meeting, so cities are holding the public hearing within ordinary council meetings.
Even though last year the state put cities with more than 2,500 people and counties under levy limits that cap the property tax increases to 3.9 percent, there are still plenty of special levies that can make for total tax levy increases of more than 3.9 percent.
In some cities the spread between the general property tax levy and the total levy is significant and makes a difference to taxpayers. In other cities there isn't much difference. Sometimes cities only have one levy.
General levies typically pay for the nuts and bolts of city operations while special levies can help pay off debt or pay for actions of a city's Economic Development Authority.
Then there are the challenges faced by cities because of the recession. Cities have faced a decline in development fees and have seen cuts by the state in local government aid and in the Market Value Homestead Credit tax relief.
School districts, unlike cities, have until Sept. 30 to set their preliminary levies, though most had arrived at numbers when this edition went to press.
