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Atlantic City Council reviews proposed FY 2017 Budget

News

February 18th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, spent a good deal of time discussing the proposed Fiscal Year 2017 Budget. City Administrator John Lund said only minor changes will be made to the nearly $14.35-million Budget. Some of the changes were in wording, while others took the form of unexpected changes in revenue and/or expenditures, and how those monies are categorized.

Among the changes, was that there will be no increase in the amount of money the City provides to the Cass-Atlantic Development Corporation and Atlantic Chamber of Commerce. The initial budget had proposed a $2,500 increase for each entity in the next Fiscal Year, but Mayor Dave Jones thought the increase was not necessary. He said “I feel they get enough money as it is right now.”IMG_20160217_182451

Jones said “CADCO and the Chamber, they’re both very healthy. I think $35,000 a year is plenty for both of them. Plus they get money out of the CPC (Community Promotion Commission). John Lund said the last time adjustments were made to the amount of funds CADCO and the Chamber receive, was in 2009.

Jones said the Chamber gets money from the Local Option Sales tax to cover its employees’ wages, so “They should not have any more employees down there than we have at City Hall.”  He said “I just think we do enough for those organizations, and they’ve got other options to go with. And they have [their] membership [dues]. The taxpayer does enough as it is to take care of them. I think we could use [the funds] someplace else.” He referred to the Ann Wickman Daycare Center, which Jones says is likely to come before the City asking for operational funds to makeup for a shortfall. Jones said the Daycare Center is “A very valuable asset to the City of Atlantic.”

John Lund summed-up the City’s Budget by saying the only reason he would be concerned is if in the foreseeable future, there wasn’t enough revenue coming in or expenditures dramatically increased, or if the solution to those problems was to raise taxes. Lund says because a State-mandated 10-percent increase in commercial property valuation has played a role in reducing the residential property tax.

The City’s tax asking for residential properties will decline by six-cents per thousand dollars valuation to $16.79. Any changes people see to their property taxes will be due to the changes of value to their property or the levies set by the County and School District. Commercial property taxes will increase, but again that’s because of the State mandate.

Overall, the FY 2017 Budget is down 3.77-percent from the total estimated expenditures for the current year, FY 2016.