TOP STORY: The City of Decorah will be collecting less property tax money next fiscal year

The Decorah City Council will hold a public hearing March 16th on the proposed city budget for 2020-2021.  Work has been completed on the proposed 2021 fiscal year budget, so a formal public hearing notice will be published early next month.

The proposed budget calls for a tax rate for city purposes of $14.19 per $1,000 of assessed valuation--two cents per thousand lower than this year's property tax rate.  Since the overall total of taxable property valuations within the city has also gone down--by 1.58 percent--the overall amount of money raised through property taxes for city purposes will also go down.

However, spending for 2020-2021 is expected to grow just under two percent.  That's because revenues from non-property tax sources are expected to increase.  Not included in expenditures--yet--is the estimated $7.5 million in construction costs for Locust Road.  Those expenses will be paid up front through a bond issue, which will then be repaid over the next few years.