(Atlantic, Iowa) – The latest addition to the Atlantic Police force will be sworn-in Wednesday evening, by Mayor Grace Garrett. Officer Jimmy James will receive and recite the Oath of Office. He replaces Officer Dustin Gelner, who left to serve with the Iowa State Patrol. City Administrator John Lund says this was the second of four openings for the Atlantic Police Department, a full third of the department. Officer James previously served as a Cass County Sheriff’s Deputy, and is returning to Atlantic from Polk County.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council will hold a Public Hearing for the FY 2023 Maximum Property Tax Dollars for Certain Levies, followed by a Resolution on setting the Maximum Property Tax Dollars for those levies. John Lund says “The City’s proposed debt service levy of $4 is completely hidden from [the published] notice. On the property tax statements of properties where no changes in assessed or taxable value have occurred, the City will show an increase of 2.92%, not the 3.86% shown on the notice.” Lund says also, “While 2.92% is the increase in dollars generated, it is not going to be reflective of the impact on the property taxes levied against individual properties. There is no way to know, what the impact will be in the year-to-year impact on individual taxpayers.”

The Council will act also, on a Resolution “Adopting the Preliminary FY 2023 Budget,” and setting the date of March 16th for Adopt the FY 2023 Budget. John Lund says “A few non-substantive changes were made to correct unbalanced transfers,” resulting in an updated budget for FY23 that totals a little more $14.7-million, which is a decrease from FY 2022 of 1.78%, or $266,800. The bottom line, according to Administrator Lund, is the “The City’s combined property tax levy shall remain at the level set in the FY 2021 and FY 2022 Budget.”

The final order of regular business for the Council, Wednesday, is action on a Resolution setting March 16, 2022, as the date for a public hearing on adopting the FY 2023 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The Council’s meeting begins at 5:30-p.m., and is broadcast live on the City’s cable channel.