Dear Editor:
I would strongly encourage home and business owners to attend the special meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, December 8th, at 7 pm in City Council chambers. As comfortable as it may be to watch from home, and i am sure everyone is busy, it is important that councilors hear from you. Your Voice Matters.
The council will be discussing the levy (the amount of revenue we need to raise, mostly from taxes on property) and the tax shift (the distribution ratio between the residential and commercial rates).
Commercial values have decreased resulting in their tax liability going down. The question becomes how to strike a balance giving these circumstances.
Acting Mayor Brian Sullivan made a request to see the impact of using $330,000 from free cash to offset the tax liability.
Dave Flaherty asked for and the council agreed to request another scenario for $660,000 from free cash be applied to the levy.
To his credit, Mr Sullivan has agreed. Since the council can only cut a proposal, not initiate spending or increase an amount, this will give the council something to work with. I would like to publicly thank Brian Sullivan for doing this, and for Mr. Flaherty bringing it up in the absence of Councilor Chris Keefe who was unable to attend Thursday night due to work, and would most likely have asked for this.
Dan Allie
