Baxter sets preliminary tax levy at 5%

BAXTER — A preliminary tax levy of 5% was set by the Baxter City Council Tuesday, Sept. 16.

At the budget work session before the regular meeting, staff members met with City Council members Mark Cross, Connie Lyscio, and Patrick Sundberg, and outlined changes to reduce the proposed budget. They also included the previously discussed option to use reserve dollars to pay for one-time capital expenditures instead of using levy dollars for the police, streets and parks departments.

Since the Sept. 2 budget work session , staff updated the budget and removed or reduced items. The finance department report noted changes were made to reflect the council’s direction to lower the proposed levy. The Sept. 2 session had an initial draft budget of $10,042,100, representing an increase of $741,500