Initial Washington budget shows no tax increase
It appears city of Washington residents will not be facing a tax increase.
Council is expected to have the first reading of the city’s $15,093.936.18 spending plan for 2024 on Thursday.
Millage in the city would be levied at 38.71 mills for land and 4.03 mills for buildings if the budget is approved as proposed. Those figures have been in place since 2019.
“At this point it looks like it’s a balanced budget going into next year, which is good news,” said Councilman Ken Westcott, who chairs the finance department, after Monday’s meeting. “Department heads did some cutbacks in their departments, and there’s only essential spending at this point. We’ve been able to find some additional monies. The treasurer’s department did a great job.”
Westcott added that the city had a money market account that wasn’t yielding much interest, so that money was placed into a checking account with a higher yield.
“We were able to make an additional $100,000 this year,” Westcott said. “We may have a slight carryover. We’ll know better in December.”
Taxes are expected to generate 69% of anticipated revenue. Departmental costs cover more than half of the anticipated expenditures. The anticipated cost for police protection is $2.77 million, and fire protection is expected to cost $1.875 million.
One cost that will be increasing is that of solid waste and recycling collection.
There is expected to be a motion on Thursday’s agenda to approve a resolution setting the once-a-year collection fee for 2024 at $300 per dwelling unit, up from the $243 rate that has been in place since 2013. Increases of about 2% or 3% are expected during each of the remaining four years of the five-year contract with Big’s Sanitation that council approved in October.
There also would be a late fee of $30 if the $300 fee is not paid by its due date, which has yet to be determined.
“Instead of a monthly increase for the fine, it will be a flat $30 fee if you don’t pay it by the due date so that we can get the money in to be able to pay the contractor and not pay late fees – things that will save the taxpayers’ money in the long run,” said Donn Henderson, city administrator.
The new contract takes effect in January.
Also, Police Chief Daniel Rush told council Monday the department turned over 188 pounds of medication through drug take back.
“The majority of that weight came from our on-station drop box,” he said. “(That box) has paid dividends.”