By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The City of Decatur will be sending a proposed 2024 budget of $13,514,859 on to county and state officials in early October.
At its Sept. 19 meeting, council approved the numbers on two of three required readings, with final passage to come at the next meeting, Oct. 3.
The ’24 budget shows an increase of $1,695,199 over the current budget of $11,819,660.
The budget is the last prepared by Clerk-Treasurer Phyllis Whitright, who is going into retirement at the end or the year – after 26 plus years in the post!
The proposed budget carries a tax rate of $1.4379 per $100 of assessed valuation, but the final number will be lower, Whitright said.
The new rate is calculated on only 85% of the current assessed valuation (AV). The new AV numbers have not yet been received by the city, but when they come in they will surely show an increase, which would lower the $1.4379 rate.
“Once we get the full AV, it will go down,” Whitright said.
The current rate is $1.16.
After final passage, the budget goes to Adams County Council for what has always been automatic approval, then on to the state Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF). The state body can reduce certain numbers in the budget, but hasn’t done so in recent years.
At the same meeting, salary ordinances for city employees and elected officials were introduced for 2024. Like the budget, both were given an okay on two readings, with the final approval set for Oct. 3.