Budget and Taxes

A tax rate is a balancing act, a friction between adequately funding city services and a tax rate our citizens feel offers proper value.
A city budget can be complicated to follow, but our citizenry has to feel the budget is passed and administered transparently.
While the budget must be balanced by statute and regulation, we need to balance the budget through prudent expenditures, not through raising tax rates.
Our City budget is about providing the services the citizens need and require, with great respect for where those hard-earned tax dollars originate.
City and emergency services need to be paid for by the government. Still, economic development should look first to the private sector, with government expenditures only as a piece or as a last resort.
While the City does not have a direct primary responsibility for secondary education, the environment around our schools needs adequately funded law enforcement so our students know they are safe.
There has been more than enough written about this issue, and now we must take action to prevent conflicts of interest, self-dealing by officials, and an environment where trust is paramount.

Was this helpful?