Proposed 2015-2016 City of Decorah tentative budget calls for a spending increase of over $1 million

City of Decorah representatives still have plenty of work to do to put together a 2015-2016 city budget.  But the impact of the Highway 9 utility project and the purchase of a new fire truck—two items that are being paid through multi-year bonds instead of directly through next year's tax levy—means city spending could reach almost $15 million next year.

City council members have been presented with a proposed budget of $14,917,661—up from the current approved budget of $13,725,321.  The budget calls for a property tax rate of $13.63 per $1,000 of assessed valuation—a drop of 16 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation.  $1.30 per thousand dollars of that amount will pay for the bonds that are financing the Highway 9 utility project and the purchase of the new fire truck.

Decorah's taxable valuations dropped by $397,847 from 2014 to 2015.  City officials believe the decrease is most likely due to the property tax reform legislation passed by the Iowa Legislature that lowered the valuations of commercial properties.  The decrease in valuation was somewhat offset by the fact that the residential rollback increased 1.3 percent.