Mayor Proposes Property Tax Reduction

The Common Council meeting room was full Monday night, which according to Councilman Dr. Robert Wack was unusual but welcomed, since one can usually hear crickets during the initial budget presentation.

Mayor Kevin Utz introduced the FY2013 budget to the council, saying that he is proposing a 1-cent property tax reduction, in spite of the fact that the city is facing a $1.3 million reduction in revenue.

Finance Committee Chair Dr. Robert Wack that due to lower property assessment values, there would be less revenue coming to the city. Good for the citizens who will see a lower tax bill, Wack said, but bad for the city who will see less income.

Utz said Monday night that as a result of each city department cutting as much as possible, and not filling some vacant positions, staff was able to come up with a balanced budget, even with the shortfall.

"We are optimistically comfortable," Utz told Patch about the proposed budget. "We've reduced our structural deficit so much ... that we were able to absorb some of the shortfall."

In 2010 the council made an unpopular decision to increase the property tax rate by 14 cents (from $.44/$100 of assessed value to $.58/$100 of assessed value) in order to catch up on capital projects. It did so, saying the expectation was that the rate would decrease again when capital projects were up to date.

Utz said Monday that the city is looking to reduce the property tax rate in FY13, by 1 cent, as the council said it would when it increased the rate two years ago.

Westminster's Director of Finance Gary Ehlers said that there are still some question marks in the budget because the city is not sure yet what funds it will receive from the county and state.

Utz said that he wouldn't have proposed the tax cut without having made sure it was feasible. Although he cautioned that it's not a done deal as the budget process is just beginning.

Part of the budget was presented to the council Monday and the other half will be presented at the next meeting on April 23. There will be a budget hearing on May 7 and the budget will approved and the tax rate set on May 14.