A large crowd was on hand for the annual Truth in Taxation meeting, which was held immediately prior to the Spring Valley City Council’s regular meeting on December 10. All members of the council were present: Tony Archer, Todd Jones, Mayor Jim Struzyk, John Dols, Mike Hadland, and City Administrator Deb Zimmer.
Several homeowners spoke up about the significant increase in their taxes. Deb Zimmer informed all that, “This year, our total levy is going up just about $144,000. Our debt levy is going up $300,000. Now the debt levy, we offset it with lowering some of our general levy to accommodate for the debt… The increase is due to the street project, Washington, which is a $5 million project.” She stated that with increasing costs, street projects quickly get into the millions of dollars nowadays.
Mayor Struzyk reminded citizens that, “Our levy went up only 3% over last year,” and he went on to explain that for any homeowners whose home valuations have gone up, this is due to other home sales nearby. He also reminded people that the opportunity to dispute home valuations is every April, at the annual Board of Review meeting.
A citizen addressed the council, stating, “This is the first preliminary levy I’ve seen that I’m shocked, and I’ve lived here all my life… Can the city do anything to help the taxpayers out, before they finalize this? Can we cut any services?” He mentioned that the swimming pool loses money every year, and wondered if it could be dropped for a few years. He then added a suggestion for the city to take “a hard look” at cutting expenses wherever possible. Council members agreed that the 2019 council will have a hard job ahead in prioritizing expenses wisely.
Todd Jones added, “I think that Lindale project kind of caught us too. We weren’t planning for that one. It kind of snowballed on us.” Mayor Struzyk summarized, “It’s going to be tight next year, really tight… I don’t possibly see anything we can cut big enough that’ll reduce the levy down much at all.”
Zimmer shared data on the levy amount and a multi-year budget comparison for 2013 through 2019. No citizens had signed up to address the council during the “visitors section” portion of the regular meeting. The council voted to certify the final tax levy and adopt the 2019 budget as proposed.
Zimmer informed the council that homeowners on the new portion of Washington Street have been asked not to clear snow from their sidewalks this winter, because the sidewalks are incomplete and have some significant drop-offs. If the sidewalks are not cleared, people are expected to be more likely to avoid walking on them.
A proposal was approved to increase the Fire Relief Benefit amount by $100 per person. The rate will now be $1,610 per year of service on the fire department. The council passed the annual “polling place” resolution, and committed capital projects revenue sources. The council approved a cost-of-living increase to the city’s pay scale, and a 2018 Washington/High Street project estimate of just over $622,000.
This was the final council meeting for Todd Jones and Mayor Jim Struzyk. Council members shared appreciation for their service to the city. Todd Jones also commended Joe O’Connell for his efforts at making the recent sledding hill event a success. The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. The council will hold a very brief meeting on December 26 just to pay bills. The next regular meeting of the council will be Monday, January 14 at 6 p.m. As always, the public is welcome.
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