10-09-2000 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

L, , L IM Meeting REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION ocr 0 9 2000 DATE) I OctaliMi( ITEM NO: Department Approval: Name Ron Moorse Title City Administrator Administrator Reviewed: Item Description: Public Hearing - Tax Rate - Resolution Agenda Section: City Administrator’s Report A law passed in the 1999 State legislative session requires that all cities over 500 population and all counties must hold a public hearing and pass a resolution; if the levy for the upcoming year increases such that, in the absence of an increase in tax capacity, the tax capacity rate would need to be increased. Very simply, what this means is that generally if a city is increasing its tax levy, it needs to hold this public hearing. The legislation created a new term, "Levy Certification Tax Rate," and set of calculations, used to determine the "tax rate" increase as defined in the new legislation. The City's Levy Certification Tax Rate for 2000 is 12.28%, and for 2001 is 13.28%. What this generally indicates is that if the City's tax capacity was held constant, the City's proposed levy for 2001 would cause the City's tax rate to increase. This requirement was passed due to a concern that cities and counties were claiming they were freezing taxes, when in fact the levy was increasing but the tax rate was frozen due to tax base growth. Under the law, a baseline tax rate is calculated using the prior year's levy and the current year's tax base. If the proposed levy will result in an increase in the tax rate over the baseline tax rate, the City Council must adopt a resolution at a public hearing to approve the tax rate. This resolution must be filed with the County Auditor by October 20. A resolution is attached for Council consideration. COUNCIL ACTION REQUESTED: Motion to adopt the attached resolution authorizing a tax rate for the 2000 tax levy collectible in 2001 that is greater than the Levy Certification Tax Rate for the 1999 tax levy collectible in 2000.