09-13-1999 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

C'"'* f*'•^^ETINQ REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION ■ScP I 3 1999 c'^oFoncjNo DATE: September 8, 1999 I6ITEM NO: Department Approval: Name RonMoorsc Title City Administrator Administrator Reviewed:Agenda Section: City Administrator's Report Item Description: Establishment of Date for Tax Rate Hearing A new 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 This requirement was passed due to a concern that cities and counties were claiming they were freezing taxes; when in fact the les'y was increasing but the tax rate was frozen due to tax base growth. Under the law, the local government calculates what its tax rate would be in the coming year if the levy was held constant. Essentially, a baseline tax rate is calculated based on the prior year’s levy and the current year tax base. If the 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. The resolution must be filed with the County Auditor by October 20 of each year The information necessary to calculate the baseline tax rate will not be provided by the County Auditor until October 1. Based on this timeline, staff recommends holding the public hearing and adopting a resolution at the October 11 Council meeting. COUNCIL ACTION REQUESTED: Motion to schedule a public hearing regarding the City's tax rate for 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 11, 1999. 1