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| FL City Council gets first look at 2009 budget numbers |
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| Wednesday, 20 August 2008 | |
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Jennifer Larson Staff Writer A near 7 percent hike in the city of Forest Lake property tax levy for 2009 got its first examinations during a city council work session on Monday. The council met on Aug. 7 to go over next year’s goals and objectives. At that time, City Administrator Chip Robinson said they would not be discussing actual numbers for the 2009 fiscal budget until Aug. 18. Councilwoman Susan Young noted on Monday that nothing has been inked in yet. This week, the council will go through the city’s budgetary funds. Robinson unveiled a budget proposal that calls for a total city property tax levy increase of 6.4 percent. For him, the proposed budget and tax levy are planning documents to help staff and the council determine final spending levels and taxing amounts for 2009. In all, the city is reviewing at total general fund levy of $7,270,514. The city’s 2008 property tax levy payable this year was set at $6,832,735. The proposed tax levy will augment other city revenues to support a proposed 2009 city budget of $8,644,254. Including its proposed property tax levy, the general budget will have total revenues of $9.2 million – a slight increase of $100,000 from 2008. The city, under the proposal, would use an operating transfer of $55,000 to have a balanced budget. Robinson said that approximately 85 percent of the city’s costs are fixed. The remaining portion is discretionary. In the general fund, public safety personnel was a bulk of the increase reflected in the next year’s budget. One new officer was included in the budget for fiscal year 2009, plus one additional officer position that was restored in 2008. This will bring the total to 26 sworn officers, or 1.48 officers per 1000 population. In addition, severance payments were included to fund the potential retirements of three senior officers. Robinson said the number of city employees has risen in mainly one area – police. He noted that the council has emphasized hiring officers in order to provide adequate public safety. However, Robinson said with the exception of the police department, the city has tried to keep the number of full-time employees flat. The city must set its preliminary property tax levy by Sept. 15. The preliminary levy can be lowered at a later date but can not be increased, Robinson said. The final levy certification for taxes collected in next year will come in December following the required Truth in Taxation public hearing process. City budget meetings that remain will take place as follows: Aug. 20 and Sept. 4, both at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at Forest Lake City Hall, 220 N. Lake St. During its regular meeting on Sept. 8 at 7 p.m., the council is set to adopt the Social Bookmarking ...       |
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