MUSCATINE, Iowa – The first of two public hearings concerning the proposed City of Muscatine 2020-2021 fiscal year budget will take place during the March 5 City Council meeting. The public hearing on the maximum property tax dollars for certain levies is a new requirement for municipalities passed by the state legislature in 2019.
The public hearing will be conducted at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, 2020, in the City Council Chambers at Muscatine City Hall.
Information on the public hearing can be found on the City of Muscatine web site. PUBLIC HEARING 1.
Senate File 634 was passed in 2019 and requires all cities to pass a resolution establishing the maximum property tax dollars for certain levies prior to the adoption and certification of the final budget. The City of Muscatine tax levies required to be included in the Public Hearing are the General, Transit, Tort Liability/Insurance, and Employee Benefits levies. Two levies are not required to be included (Debt Service and Ag Land).
The tax dollars from those levies in the proposed 2020/2021 budget total $11,991,593 compared to $11,657,803 for those levies in the 2019/2020 budget. The difference is a 2.86 percent ($333,790) increase in tax dollars when considering only those levies required to be included in the Public Hearing. However, when combined with the Debt Service and Ag Land tax levy revenues, the overall increase falls to a $113,213 (0.80 percent) increase in tax dollars for the overall City tax levy.
The proposed property tax levy rate will remain at $15.67209 per $1,000 of valuation, which is unchanged from the past eight years. With a relatively small (0.85 percent) increase in taxable valuations, City staff was able to propose a tax levy for the 2020/2021 fiscal year that is just $113,213 (0.80 percent) greater than the 2019/2020 fiscal year tax levy.
The Public Hearing for the maximum property tax dollars for certain levies was set following a review of the proposed budget by City Council. A second Public Hearing will be held on March 19 for the adoption of the budget and certification of taxes for the 2020/2021 fiscal year.