The city of North Platte is preparing for a new fiscal year without no increase in property tax revenue but with increased spending.
City Administrator Layne Groseth recently presented the 2024-25 budget for the city council to review.
The council will hold a public hearing on the proposal on Sept. 3, during its regular meeting. The council vote is scheduled Sept. 10.
Groseth said the city plans to ask for the same dollar amount from property owners as last year, $7.6 million. He said the total taxable valuation of property in North Platte has increased by 10.7% since last year, so with the unchanged tax call, the city levy will decrease by nearly four cents per $100 of taxable value. The current levy of 40.1 cents will fall to 36.2 cents, which is a decrease of 9.7%.
Groseth also noted that the city will carryover $1 million in unspent funds from this year to next. He thanked city department heads for working together to improve efficiency and save money.
“The proposed budget of $287.5 million is 10.2% higher than last year’s budget,” Groseth said.
He said the city is experiencing a little more than a 5% increase in health insurance costs and a 10% increase in property insurance costs. Also, Groseth noted that the cost of goods has risen, and wages have been raised to comply with standards set by the Nebraska Commission on Industrial Relations (CIR).
Groseth said no increase is proposed in water, sewer, or sanitation rates, with a slight increase in electric rates. He noted that tonnage has increased at the transfer station, resulting in increased costs in that department as well as increased revenue.
Councilman Brad Garrick said the city has managed to decrease the levy by 8 cents during the past four years despite global circumstances. He described it as fantastic.
Councilman Ed Rieker thanked Groseth for keeping the property tax call the same and called in “an accomplishment.”
Councilman Pete Volz noted that sales tax revenue has been increasing as property tax decreases, saying it is interesting to see that correlation. Councilwoman Donna Tryon pointed out that a few years ago, online merchants were required to collect and send sales taxes to cities and states, helping feed North Platte’s increase in sales tax revenue.
Rieker said, “Somehow we were able to improve our efficiency and keep our costs down. That’s something the government’s not typically good at. It’s good to see that.”
The council will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget on Sept. 3, plus a separate hearing on the city’s tax request on Sept. 10. A vote on the 2024-25 budget is scheduled after the hearing on Sept. 10.
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