Board Of Aldermen - Minutes - 10/22/2019 - P8
Board of Aldermen 10-22-2019 Page 8
A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows:
Yea: Alderman O’Brien, Alderman Harriott-Gathright, Alderman Dowd,
Alderman Klee, Alderman Laws, Alderman Lopez,
Alderman Caron, Alderwoman Kelly, Alderman Jette,
Alderwoman Melizzi-Golja, Alderman Tencza, Alderman Schmidt,
Alderman Clemons, Alderman Wilshire 14
Nay: 0
MOTION BY ALDERMAN DOWD FOR FINAL PASSAGE OF R-19-184 BY ROLL CALL
ON THE QUESTION
Alderman Jette
| understand what the Mayor has presented to us, | understand the reasons for it. | am in favor of doing
this. But when | look at the Resolution, | just want to make sure, perhaps through you we could ask
Corporate Counsel, to reassure me that we are doing what we think we are doing here. The Resolution
says that whereas the State has provided some extra money and whereas in 174, which we adopted a
couple of months, that we directed that $4.5 million of the unassigned General Fund Balance be applied
to reduce the tax rate. Whereas now it would be prudent to lower the taxes and will result in lower taxes
for $6.2 million to be applied to reduce the tax rate. This $6.2 consisting of the $4.7 extra money that we
are getting from the State and now $1.5 million of unassigned fund balance. Then it says now therefore
and this is what we are doing, therefore it is resolved that 174 is rescinded and $1.5 million of the
unassigned fund balance be applied to reduce the calendar year tax rate. It doesn’t say we are going to
apply the $6.2 million; it says we are going to apply $1.5. So am | missing something Counsel?
Steven Bolton, Corporation Counsel
The DRA will recognize that as other revenue. The tax rate is always set by the DRA with a fairly simple
formula. They look at our budget, our share of the county’s budget and then they subtract from that
revenue we get from other sources. So what we have predicted for the auto registration revenue and
building permit fees and all the other various licensing fees and so forth. And money that we receive
from the State, subtract that, they get the number that has to be raised by taxes, they divide that by the
total amount of taxable property we have in the City and come out with a rate per thousand which we
know is the tax rate. The idea being that if we get that much collected in taxes, that along with all the
other revenue will equal the amount that we have budgeted plus our share of the county budget. So we
don’t have to tell them to deduct the $4.7 million, they will automatically do that.
Essentially what we are doing here is saying, Ok, the amount of other surplus money, when we were
going to make it $4.5, we don’t have to, because we have $4.7 coming in. We are going to make it $1.5
together with the $4.7 bring it up to around $6.2, but that also essentially saves us that other $2.9 or $3
million and as the Mayor was saying, you can then make a rational determination in ample time as to
how to allocate those funds. So this will accomplish that objective.
Alderman Jette
Thank you.
President Wilshire
You’re welcome. Further discussion?
