Valuation change leads to budget revision

The City of Newton was tossed a bit of a curveball Thursday when Jasper County posted new valuation numbers that lowered the general taxable value by more than $13 million.

“This was due to the county incorrectly placing the value of the TPI facility in general taxation instead of the county TIF disrict,” Interim City Administrator Bryan Friedman said.

That means under the city’s previously proposed 2012-2013 budget that city staff has been working on, Newton would have taken in about $113,000 less in revenue. The Newton City Council addressed the issue Monday evening, approving a revised budget plan that would delay a $145,000 ambulance purchase, use about $45,000 of debt service reserve funds and bumping the originally proposed tax levy from 14.91 to 14.99 per $1,000 of valuation.

That tax levy change represents about $3 more in city property tax for the owner of a $90,000 home. The initial budget with the 14.91 levy would have increased taxes for the owner of that home by about $13 a year. The revised figure of 14.99 would push that to about an additional $16 a year for Newton homeowners.

Additionally, the city will designate $65,000 for equipment reserve funds and investigate the possibility of purchasing the ambulance at the end of the current fiscal year.

“We certainly do not want to drop the idea of buying an ambulance because the need is still there,” Friedman said. “I would instead ask that council would reach consensus or agreement to revisit this purchase once our fiscal year is closed out.”

Friedman indicated that revenues in the current budget year might be significantly higher, leaving the city with enough extra to purchase the ambulance this summer when the final numbers come in.

“We think that because these are ambulance-generated additional funds that aren’t accounted for in the original budget, we think that because they’re generated by an ambulance it would make sense to look at them as an opportunity to purchase an ambulance,” Friedman said.

Council member Jeff Price said he wants to ensure the ambulance purchase happens.

“I just want to make sure that with the increased usage of the ambulance and with the increased revenue that we’re gaining, that we have consensus that later once we get numbers ... we definitely take care of the ambulance.”