City levy down 3.85 percent, but Market Value Credit loss raises taxes

Austin residents who voiced their disapproval for the city’s proposed tax levy Tuesday night at the annual Truth in Taxation meeting were met by explanations and apologies from the Mayor and City Council.

Council members will cast their final vote on the proposed 2012 levy, which is $3.98 million, on Dec. 5. The proposed levy is a decrease from last year’s $4.13 million, but many residents will see a hike in their taxes because of a loss of Minnesota’s Market Value Credit. Finance Director Tom Dankert said the proposed 2012 tax levy is actually about 3.85 percent lower than last year’s levy, but the loss of MVC equates to a 12 to 13 percent increase overall.

The city’s proposed budget for 2012 is $30.15 million, compared to $29.86 million in 2011.

Dennis Boik, of Austin, told City Council members he thinks they can do better to reduce the tax burden on citizens, but he began with the caveat that he doesn’t think they care.

“I believe very strongly that you don’t care what we think,” Boik said. “We care a lot when we see the tax increase.”

Boik, whose property taxes increased by 21 percent this year, said the council has only given lip service to the topic of budget and staffing reductions.

“We’re very unhappy with the way the government is funding itself,” said Boik. “Stop blaming the state or the economy — everybody is under the same gun there.”

Boik’s disapproval was met with explanations from Mayor Tom Stiehm, who pointed out that Austin has the lowest proposed tax levy he has heard of so far this year.

Stiehm also said council members have been responsive to citizen input, and Boik’s claim that the council doesn’t care what citizens think is false.

Stiehm apologized to Boik later and said he didn’t mean to be argumentative after Sandy Forstner, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, said the council needs to listen more and challenge citizens’ viewpoints less.

“Rather than challenging them at every word, listen and digest,” Forstner said at the meeting. “It might encourage more public input if you listened and responded much later.”

Roger Boughton, council member, said he plans to take Forstner’s advice and listen more intently to citizen input. Other council members seemed to echo that sentiment, with Marian Clennon even saying the council could have done a better job at lowering the levy.

“I don’t think we did enough,” Clennon said. “We could have easily had a 5 percent decrease.”

Clennon and council member Judy Enright were the only council members to vote against the proposed budget and levy at Tuesday night’s meeting. Clennon encouraged citizens to have neighborhood meetings in which they come up with ideas for money-saving measures in Austin.

Council members Steve King and Jeff Austin said citizens should also think of the services they receive in exchange for their tax dollars. King said the city’s flood mitigation projects have been in response to residents wanting more protection for their homes and businesses.

“None of us want to pay more taxes,” Austin said. “We get a pretty good bang for our buck.”

Council members voted 5-2 to move the proposed levy and budget discussion to the Dec. 5 council meeting, where a final vote will be cast.