The Monmouth City Council will be voting on the property tax levy at their next meeting later this month.
This year’s tax levy is for $2,321,000 which estimate to be $2.87 for every $100 of assessed value.
The projected levy is lower than it was in 2015 but higher is the highest in the last four years. Equalized Assessed Value of the city was $79,083,587 last year and it is estimated to be around $80,670,000 for this year.
Ken Helms, Communications Director for the city, tells WGIL that the city council approved adding the vote on the levy to the agenda for the November 18 meeting.
“So the next meeting will actually solidify the tax levy but this one was just kind of like a presentation they do beforehand,” Helms said. “So, in case [there are] any questions that come up or anything like that. We [usually] do that on [agenda items] that are big. That way it gives the constituents and the elected officials a little bit of time to think about it.”
The levy breaks down into three major areas: 17 percent, or $400,000, goes to the debt service obligations, accumulated to pay for federally mandated projects.
14.4 percent, or $333,900, goes to the city’s general fund, which covers Police, Fire, and City Hall employees as well as equipment expenses and infrastructure.
The largest amount, 68.4 percent — around $1,587,100, goes to the Police and Fire Pension.
Helms says those pension costs have increased substantially over the last ten years for a number of different factors.
FY 2009’s pension payments to the fire pension was $404,344. FY 2019 it is $700,054. The police pension payment in 2009 was $384,257 and in 2019 it is $568,044. That is a 117 percent increase in pension payments.
With the growing pension, the amount levied for the general fund continues to go down — leading to potential increases in other areas such as water and sewage costs for residents. This revenue from the tax levy is only a portion of the $1,750,961 budget.
