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Where your taxes go: City Council working on 2015-16 budget
by Rick DeClue · News · January 29, 2015
Earlier this month, the West Branch City Council began its budget process for fiscal-year 2016 with a look back to fiscal-year 2014, the city’s most recent full fiscal year, which ended July 1.
Mayor Mark Worrell and City Administrator Matt Muckler started by answering a question that Worrell said he is often asked by city residents – why are West Branch property taxes as high as Iowa City’s?
Both said the answer is: They are not.
Muckler looked at property taxes for two properties of equal value, one in each city. Taxes on the West Branch property are 15 percent lower overall than the Iowa City property. He added the portion of property taxes going to West Branch are actually 39 percent lower than the portion of taxes going to Iowa City.
Worrell said this reflects a higher level of city services in Iowa City, along with amenities such as swimming pools and recreation centers.
For West Branch, property tax distribution was unchanged from FY2013:
Schools 42.3%
City of West Branch 36.4%
Cedar County 13.7%
Other 7.6%
Total 100.0%
Major revenue categories by source for 2014 included property taxes of $1,6 million (41.5 percent of total revenues), sewer and water revenues of $690,000 (18.0 percent), road use taxes of $232,000 (6.0 percent) and Local Option Sales Taxes of $148,000 (3.8 percent). The city also counts as a revenue source the $400,000 loan used to acquire land for the proposed city park in Pedersen Valley.
Major expense categories by function for 2014 included the following:
Function % of Actual Actual
expenditures expenditures
Sewer 14.9% $614,120
Parks & Recreation 12.5% $511,400
Lift Station Project 10.4% $428,500
Water 9.9% $409,028
Roads and Streets 9.3% $382,943
Debt Service 8.3% $340,488
Police Department 8.0% $327,008
Fire Department 5.5% $227,181
Library 5.0% $204,822
Administration 3.7% $150,332
The sewer figure includes Phase 1 of the city’s “influx and infiltration” (leaks) repairs. Parks and Recreation includes the $400,000 acquisition of the Pedersen Valley property. The lift station project is now complete. Debt service was down substantially from the $1.6 million in 2013.
The figure for the previous year included refinancing older bonds in order to benefit from lower interest rates available in 2013.
Expenditures for 2014 totaled $4.1 million, down from $4.8 million the prior year, due primarily to the lower debt service.
On Jan. 20, the council planned on setting a date for a public hearing and adoption of the city’s Capital Improvements Plan, as well as a review of projected employee compensation for next year.
The final 2016 budget is expected to be approved at the council’s March 2 meeting.
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