City of Blair Special Council Meeting Budget Hearing September 12, 2023 The Mayor and City Council met in regular session in the City Council Chambers on September 12, 2023 at 6:30 PM. The following were present: Katelyn Ferrari, Holly Hafer, Kirk Highfill, Rick Paulsen, Jim Sandvold, Andrew Schank, Kevin Willis, and Frank Wolff. Also present were City Administrator Green, Assistant City Administrator Barrow, Director of Public Works Schoemaker, Finance Director Burton, Library Director Zarco, HR Manager Guhl, City Attorney Solomon and Chief Lager. Mayor Rump called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. followed by roll call. Mayor Rump opened a public hearing on the Fiscal year 2023-2024 Budget. City Administrator Green stated this budget hearing is required by state statute and to allow all citizens the opportunity to speak on the budget without a time limit. The budget notice was published in the September 8, 2023 as required the Nebraska Public Budget Law. Green then presented the budget for FY 2023-2024 as follows: Proposed Budget of Disbursements & Transfer - $95,591,883.50; Necessary Cash Reserves - $2,835,066.06; Total Resources Available - $98,426,949.56; Personal & Real Property Tax Requirement - $2,971,869.77; Unused Budget Authority Created for Next year - $2,433,338.57. Breakdown of property tax as follows: Personal & Real Property Tax Requirement for Non-Bond Purposes - $2,676,556.85 and Personal & Real Property Tax Required for Bonds - $295,312.92. There will be no action at this meeting. The actual budget will be adopted later tonight at the regular council meeting. This year the city saw a 22.3% increase in valuation primarily due to the Dollar General Distribution Center. Blair’s real growth for the year is 17.61% but the budget only includes an increase of 14% due to inflation. The levy will decrease this year which would allow for some property owners to actually see a decrease in property taxes if their valuation did not go up. Several of the highlights from the budget include Generations Park, city hall remodel or relocation, salary increases of 5% and 6%, addition of several new positions, River Road Connector Trail, Hollow Road improvements, and Asphalt overlays. Green reviewed the completed state budget forms noting that the lid restricts how much a city can spend each year. Exceptions to the lid are capital improvement projects that are not counted toward the lid. There were no public comments. Mayor Rump closed the public Budget Hearing at 6:53 p.m. Mayor Rump opened a public hearing to set FY 2023-2024 levy different than FY 2022-2023 levy. City Administrator Green stated the city would not be required to participate in the joint hearing on September 21, 2023 based on our budget. This public hearing is also required by state statute because we are asking for more public dollars this year than last year. The new year's property tax requirement is $2,900,000.00. The proposed budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 for the City of Blair will require an increase in property taxes of 14% from the previous year. The city’s valuation increased by 22.3% for new growth. There were no public comments. Mayor Rump closed the public hearing at 6:55 p.m. Meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m. Melinda K. Rump, Mayor ATTEST: Brenda Wheeler, City Clerk A complete text of the minutes, Resolutions, Ordinances are on file in the office of the City Clerk, 218 S. 16th Street, and are available for public inspection during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. ZNEZ ENT 09-29-23
