Hillsboro tax levy remains steady
Mill levy increase is negligible in 2003 city budget
The mill levy will increase this year — but so slightly that most homeowners shouldn't notice the difference.
At a special City Council meeting held last Thursday evening, the city approved a .012 increase in the mill levy, raising it from 40.977 to 40.989.
It's an increase so slight that a person owning a $100,000 home will only pay 12 cents more a year to the city in property taxes.
The steady mill levy comes after council members expressed their desire to keep property taxes as level as possible.
Now, in accordance with state law, the city will hold a public hearing for the levy change on Monday, Aug. 12, at 4 p.m. in city hall.
At Thursday's meeting, City Administrator Steve Garrett reviewed the 2003 city budget, which is printed on page 11 of this issue.
While much of city spending remains fairly stationary, Hillsboro will see an increase in the money allocated to employee benefits.
The amount budgeted for benefits in 2002 was $89,500. For 2003, that amount rises to $109,650.
The main cause of the increase is the skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums.
"Those of you who pay insurance on your employees, you know there's no way to win that game," Garrett said.
The city pays insurance benefits to such employees as the city clerk, maintenance personnel, and police officers.
Also in the budget, the city plans to allocate more money toward the bond and interest fund — up from $581,242 in 2002 to $621,700 in 2003.
And the reason, in simple terms? The ebb and flow of interest rates, Garrett said.
The total amount for the 2003 city budget is $5,074,186.
In other council business:
— Police Chief Dan Kinning has applied for a grant to purchase four new radar units for the city's police cars.
The grant originates with the Department of Justices's Community Oriented Policing Services organization, or COPS. They've given the state of Kansas more than $400,000 this year, Kinning said.
The total cost for the radar units is $8,820, and since the grant is a 10 percent matching grant, the city would have to contribute $820 of the cost.
— A group of young biking enthusiasts would like to move the mounds of dirt currently at the county fairgrounds arena over to a permanent location.
Once the fair starts, the dirt will be removed, Garrett said. The interested children and teen-agers want to re-form the dirt into biking hills in an area west of the western tennis courts.
The city would move the dirt in city dump trucks, and the children would form the dirt into small, medium, and large hills for bikers of all ages and ability levels.
The dirt mounds were originally formed inside the arena for the Hillsboro Family Festival in May.
Garrett has no problem with the project.
"I think they've done a good job of not making a nuisance of themselves," he said.
In addition to keeping the arena area in good condition, many local adults are involved in this too.
"There are lots of parents involved in this," Garrett said.
