PUBLIC HEARINGS - Joe Huss, Finance Director
Title
2020 TRUTH-IN-TAXATION HEARING
Background
A public hearing is scheduled for December 14, 2020 at 8:00 p.m. to discuss the City of Blaine 2021 Tax Levies and 2021 General Fund Budget. A staff report and presentation will precede public input and comment.
The City Council has held a number of 2021 budget discussions to this point, most recently at the Council Workshop on November 9, 2020. The following summarizes discussions to date and the proposed tax levies and General Fund Budget that will be the subject of the public hearing.
2021 Tax Levy
In September, Council approved a Preliminary 2021 Tax Levy of $34,385,000 allocated as follows:
• General Fund - $28,335,000
• Debt Service - $4,900,000
• PMP - $100,000
• Parks & Trails - $350,000
• EDA - $700,000
Since its adoption, Council has discussed scenarios for reducing and reallocating the preliminary levy. These scenarios will be reviewed at the public hearing.
2021 General Fund Budget
The Preliminary General Fund Budget was adopted along with the Preliminary Levies on September 21 with an expenditure budget of $36,073,800 - a 3.9% overall increase in expenditures compared to the 2020 Adopted Budget. Since the adoption of the 2021 Preliminary Budget, $97,000 of additional cuts have been made, bringing the recommended budget to $35,976,800. This represents an overall expenditure increase of 3.6% and, with the most recently proposed levy allocation, provides a safe margin of revenue over expenditures of $262,600.
Recommendation
Conduct the public hearing and provide direction for the 2021 Tax Levies and General Fund Budget to be adopted on December 21, 2020.