Not yet half way through the current year, city council is already beginning to take a look at the 2009 budget.
The view is not pretty.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the city’s expenses are rising rapidly, largely a result of the historic run-up in fuel prices.
The administration has taken steps to reduce those costs, but there is only so much that can be done in the short term. More might be possible in the long-term, but unfortunately much of what could be done would require an investment of some type whether it is in new equipment or technologies or just improving the energy efficiency of our buildings and fleet. Investments are tough to make when you are strapped for cash.
Our first discussions about where we go in 2009 have focused on revenues. Basically, that means taxes.
So far it appears as if our revenues – again meaning largely taxes – are coming in as anticipated with the exception of the $52 a year local services tax. That’s probably going to fall below projections for 2008.
Like all municipalities, Oil City’s largest revenue source is real estate taxes. Our real estate tax base is stagnant.
Mayor Hawkins was correct when she said the best way to increase the city’s revenues and fiscal health is to grow its tax base. But again, that often takes investment.
So where do we go from here?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hey, what did the paper mean about the only hybrid station being in Monroeville?
The question Dittman said poses relates to a discussion council had regarding a new 4-wheel-drive police vehicle.
I think the paper got right what was said, but that the speaker meant to refer to flex-fuel vehicles, not hybrids. The flex-fuel I think available in Monroeville is E85, a gasoline/ethanol blend. However, there was also some discussion about natural gas-fueled vehicles, so....
Apples, oranges and a few kumquats were mixed in so it was a bit confusing.
Ah -ha Flex-Fuel! That makes more sense. Thanks for clearing that up! I liked what you said about being proactive with energy choices rather than waiting for everyone to change around us.
I know of at least one reason the real estate tax base is stagnant - it's not remotely accurately assessed. Just ask anyone who recently bought a home in O.C. I bought my home in 2005 for $140,000,so it is assessed at $140,000 and my taxes are nearly $5,000 a year (total). When I was preparing for my appeal, was I ever surprised to learn that my neighbors, who live in far nicer homes, are assessed in the $70,000 to $80,000 range. If they ever decided to sell they would most certainly list their home closer to $200,000. How can anyone think that is remotely fair? Of course my neighbors are perfectly happy to have me pay three times what they pay. The appeals board could care less what my neighbors were assessed at and ONLY wanted to see recent sales. THEY SET THE VALUES ON MY NEIGHBORS' HOMES just a few years before that.
I can tell you that I will not pay another dime more given this situation. If my real estate taxes are raised, my home will immediately go on the market and I will be looking in Cranberry for a house. With the deregulation of electricity looming, I may need to sooner than later. It's getting so you can't afford to live in O.C. unless you are renting a run down shack that the landlord bought at tax sale and isn't paying squat in real estate taxes on. We all know there are far too many of those!
The real estate tax system and using the County's assessment is your biggest problem. Good luck trying to fix it - you can't.
Post a Comment