“Property tax relief? County yes, city no ~~ City plans to spend 4.3% more” plus 2 more

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• Property tax relief? County yes, city no ~~ City plans to spend 4.3% more
• Property tax re-introduction discussed in Dáil
• Property Tax Increase for Some Tennessee Residents

Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Property tax relief? County yes, city no ~~ City plans to spend 4.3% more Posted: 22 Jun 2010 10:15 PM PDT	Property tax relief? County yes, city no ~~ City plans to spend 4.3% more By Angela Daughtry, News-Leader Fernandina Beach Commissioners have been asked to raise the property tax rate to make up for declining property values in the city. That would allow the city to increase wages for some employees, boost employee pension contributions and keep most programs and services intact. City Manager Michael Czymbor's draft budget calls for a 4.3 percent increase in general fund spending, to $17.1 million. Projected revenues would rise by 2.9 percent, mostly due to increased money from licenses and permits, sales, use and fuel taxes and user fees. City commissioners held a brief budget workshop Monday to begin thinking about a daunting task: where to trim expenses in the city budget for 2010-11. Czymbor suggested commissioners begin thinking about which services and programs are most important to the community; the hard part, he said, will be keeping necessary services within a sustainable budget. Czymbor informed commissioners that the city faces an estimated 11 percent decline in property values this year. That is on top of a 6.42 percent decrease in property values last year. The city increased the property tax rate last year to make up the difference. Czymbor said his proposed budget assumes commissioners will adopt a "rollback" of the millage rate so the city can collect the same revenue from property taxes it collected last year. "The rollback rate is going to be a main topic of conversation," he said. The "rollback" is that property tax rate which allows the city to collect the same amount of revenue even though property values have changed. The rollback is now more properly described as a "roll up" rate because it increases the property tax rate to keep revenues the same when property values decline. Nassau County Property Appraiser Tammy Stiles informed the city this month that the estimated taxable value of property within the city is $1.65 billion, continuing a decline in the past two years owing to the poor economy. City Finance Director Patti Clifford showed commissioners Monday a draft of the upcoming budget that estimated $14 million in revenues and $17 million in expenditures. She anticipated an additional $2 million in transfers from enterprise and utility funds plus more than $5 million unspent this year and carried forward to the next. The draft budget includes an increase in pension costs for city employees of $171,680, Czymbor said. Increases in workers' compensation and wage hikes for police, firefighters and exempt employees are also anticipated. A chart provided by the city projects a decrease of nine full-time city employees, but Commissioner Arlene Filkoff noted six of those employees moved over to Westrec when the management company took over the city marina. Per Westrec's contract, the city continues to pay those salaries. The city may pay higher utility rates next year as it foresees a 10 to 12 percent increase in Florida Public Utility rates beginning in January. Czymbor also noted that no funding was set aside for non-profit groups, except for a building fund for the Council on Aging and an appropriation of $60,000 to the county for a new roof on the Fernandina Beach branch library. The draft budget does not call for significant program cuts. "You must ask the question, are these services and programs the city funds necessary, critical and vital?" Czymbor told commissioners. "You will have to make a commitment as to whether you want those services (and decide) what services will not be maintained and funded." "If yes, are we willing to raise the necessary resources (taxes and fees) to continue to support the services and programs?" he asked in a PowerPoint presentation. "If no, what services and programs are you no longer willing to fund? What criteria will be utilized to determine what services and programs will not be maintained and funded?" Filkoff said commissioners should also consider whether some services could be done differently so they don't cost as much. She said she would like to start off budget discussions "from a planning perspective" before starting to make cuts. "We have to start with something broader," Filkoff said. "We should talk about what we want to be rather than what we want to cut." Another budget workshop has tentatively been scheduled for Tuesday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 204 Ash St. Public hearings for the budget will be scheduled in September before it takes effect Oct. 1. adaughtry@fbnewsleader.com Story created Jun 21, 2010 - 13:20:36 PDT.
Property tax re-introduction discussed in Dáil Posted: 23 Jun 2010 03:29 AM PDT The Taoiseach has refused to comment on speculation that a property tax may be introduced in December's Budget. Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny described media reports of a possible property tax as grossly unfair. Mr Kenny said he would oppose any such plan. He said less than one in ten of the proposed cuts in the McCarthy plan had been implemented and until the plan was executed it was unfair to ask families to take more pain. Brian Cowen said he could not speculate on what would be in the Budget. Mr Cowen acknowledged that the Programme for Government contained a proposal for a site tax and said the commission of taxation had recommended widening the tax base. Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
Property Tax Increase for Some Tennessee Residents Posted: 23 Jun 2010 12:52 PM PDT Property taxes are going up in Mount Carmel, Tennessee. The Mount Carmel Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a 35 cent increase.  Residents will notice the change when they get their bills in October. The city hopes to raise more than $200,000 for the general fund.  It's been seven years since the last property tax increase in Mount Carmel. Five Filters featured article: Headshot - Propaganda, State Religion and the Attack On the Gaza Peace Flotilla. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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