Council to publish budget

The Washington City Council met Tuesday night in the Washington Free Public Library to discuss its 2012-2013 budget. The council voted to approve the budget for publication with a few modifications. The public hearing on the budget will occur at the council?s next meeting on March 7.

The proposed budget includes a $1 per $1,000 property tax increase, bringing the city?s tax rate to $15.98 per $1,000. Washington city administrator Brent Hinson said the increase was necessary to bring the city out of debt. Hinson stated at a council meeting in January that the city would end this fiscal year about $320,000 in debt.

Homes are now taxed at 51.5 percent of their value instead of 48.5 percent as they were last year. That means a person with a $100,000 house would pay about $820 in taxes to the city under the proposal, about $100 more than they would have paid last year. In 2011, when the city?s tax levy was $14.98, it accounted for about one-third of a Washington resident?s tax bill.

The last time the city discussed its budget was during a budget workshop Feb. 8. Hinson wrote down the questions the council had at that time. He put them in a spreadsheet along with the answers he found.

One of the questions from the Feb. 8 meeting was whether the city would have to pay for the fire department?s radios. At that time, councilor Bob Shepherd said that E911 pays for the radios for the other departments. Hinson confirmed that E911 will pay for Washington?s fire department radios, too.

Another question from the Feb. 8 meeting was whether the Washington City Airport owed the city money for investments the city made to the airport in the form of hangars and fuel farms. Hinson said that he spoke with Mike Roe and that Roe believes those investments have been covered. Hinson said he would check to make sure before money is transferred from the general fund to the newly created Airport fund.

Apart from the city departments the council also listened to presentations from outside groups requesting money such as the Washington Community Y and the tourism committee. Hinson said that the council will discuss those outside groups at the next meeting, March 7, when he hopes to have a full council of six members. Councilors Shepherd and Russ Zieglowsky were absent for Wednesday?s meeting. Hinson has stated at prior meetings that he would like to move the presentations from the outside groups to the fall and to have those requests approved separately from the budget.

The council must approve the budget and submit it to the State Auditor?s office no later than March 15.