The next Monmouth City Council meeting is December 16th @ 6pm. If this effects you you should be there. Monmouth already has one of the highest sales taxes in the state. Raising taxes does not help the economy of the country and it doesn’t on the local level either.
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reviewatlas.com – City officials say a 9-percent property tax increase may be the only way to continue funding police and fire department pensions for the foreseeable future.
As taxes designated for police and fire pensions have roughly quadrupled over a period of eight years, the city’s general corporate levy has plummeted by more than half. The general fund goes toward all of the city’s day-to-day operations and departments.
At a Monday Monmouth City Council meeting, Mayor Rod Davies and interim city administrator John Cratty outlined the proposed tax levy for the upcoming fiscal year. The overall levy has remained flat at $1.5 million for the last three years.
Davies acknowledged that keeping the levy the same for three years may have been a mistake on the city’s part, largely unaided by the state’s pension crisis and lack of reform.
The Illinois General Assembly did approve a major state pension overhaul bill Tuesday after years of standing pat.
Prior to 2009, Monmouth’s levy was set at $1.9 million. It was then reduced and the municipal sales tax raised.
“We felt that there was future growth through our development in the sales tax area versus the property tax area. It was a time during some pretty tough economic downturn,” Davies said. “We must make the most use of the tax dollars that we receive. We do that on an ongoing basis.”
The added tax dollars would go exclusively toward public safety pensions and not any city operations.
Since 2004, Monmouth has significantly cut its general fund appropriation instead of raising taxes to fund the rising pension costs. Now, according to officials, the city has finally hit the floor — taking more money out of the general account is no longer an option.
“We have done a number of cost savings in the city to try and keep this balanced, but we are to a point where to fund these pensions, we need to come up with another revenue source,” Cratty said.
Most recently, the city has explored electrical aggregation as a means of lowering utility costs.
The city has challenged its individual departments with less money and minimum staffing, Davies said.
“I don’t see the answer being personnel cuts like our neighbors are considering,” Davies said, referring to layoffs in Galesburg that were approved Monday night. “I don’t think any of us like to hand out tax increases, but I see no other alternative. I guess in the scheme of things, these amounts seem to be manageable.”
The increase amounts to $23 more per $1,000 total tax bill, with the city receiving a $247 share.
Property taxes supporting the general fund are at an all-time low, according to documents, accounting for just 5.5 percent of the city’s general fund budget. The rest of the money comes from all other revenue sources besides property taxes.
Monmouth firefighter and union president Justin Thomas urged the city to continue funding pensions as it has in the past.
“I understand the dire situation that everybody is in and I understand where we are at right now,” he said. “We would greatly appreciate it if we could get the funding where we need it to be.”
As of May 1, police pensions are 52 percent funded and fire pensions are 38 percent funded, based on actuarial assessments.
“We’re not looking at solving this problem in two years, five years or 10 years — we’re looking longer term, like a 30-year period of time,” Cratty said.
A public hearing will be required before any tax hike can be approved.
Aldermen discussed the issue at length Monday night without taking any action.
“The problem is we’re doing this for one specific purpose right now, and that’s to try and help recover on unfunded pensions,” said Alderman Dennis Willhardt, Ward 3. “What do we do next year and the year after on a system that’s broke?”
article source: Monmouth tax hike would fund climbing pensions – reviewatlas.com
