South DSM News

The Pleasant Hill City Council voted to pass its annual budget for fiscal 2024 during its meeting on April 11, following a series of meetings, public input and changes by the state to the property tax levy.

This approved budget comes after the state passed Senate Bill 181, which cut the state property tax levy amount to correct a 2021 error, which reduced the taxable of property within cities. Under the bill, municipalities had until April 30 to finalize budgets. The levy this year was $11.50, the lowest it has been in years, which the board adopted.

"There's been a series of interruptions, delays, and our process has been significantly impacted really due to the actions of the state legislature and due to those uncertainties, forced revenue reductions we will be doing we will have to do an immediate budget amendment once the new fiscal year begins in July," City Treasurer Andrew Kalinowski said. "It's forced delays in development projects, in union negotiations. Those are only just now starting. So, we have an unknown for those things. We preserve the ability to address that. But there are unknowns there."

Kalinowski explained the tax levy correction and how the city had been forced to adjust. Thanks to available TIF funds to cover budget gaps, the city won't have to increase taxes to make up the difference. Without using TIF funds, the local tax levy would have been roughly $2 higher, Kalinowski said, adding that conservative budgeting has prepared the council for a difficult budget process, which was the longest he’s ever been through, he said. Still, the current budget will allow the city to meet its obligations.

There were no additional public comments about the budget, nor did the council members comment beyond thanking the city staff for their hard work this year.