Hefty Tax Hike for City
Lock Haven Budget 2015
Council on a 4-2 vote Monday night approved a jump in the city’s real estate levy from 7.76 mills to 9.01 mills, approximating a 14.6 percent increase in revenue expected to be produced.
The four council members who supported the hike chose the most expensive, in terms of the real estate levy, of four options presented by city manager Rich Marcinkevage.
The majority selected an option expected to raise another $350,000 in 2015, as opposed to the others which would have produced between $200,000 and $300,000 in new revenue in the new year.
Council had indicated at last week’s meeting that some tax hike was likely, given the difficulty in erasing a $200,000 deficit in the most recent budget rendering from the city manager.
Voting in favor of the hike were Mayor Rick Vilello and council members Jonathon Bravard, Ted Forbes and Steve Stevenson. Voting no were Bill Baney and Machell Scott; Richard Conklin was unable to attend.
Supporters said the hike should preclude the need for another tax increase over the next several years and also serve to bolster the city’s lagging reserve fund.
Scott said she needed more time to evaluate the options presented by Marcinkevage to council at the meeting and she was concerned about the level of the tax hike. Vilello responded by saying council had been made aware that the new options would be presented to them Monday night.
Council earlier this month gave the first of two required approvals on a proposed 2015 budget document. The total budget is better than $10.7 million, $4.1 million of that amount for the general fund.
A year ago the city raised taxes 2.5 percent.
