MASON CITY – An amended city budget will be considered by the Mason City Council and it has grown by nearly $1.8 million.
A public hearing on the matter will be held on May 21st, 2013, at the Mason City Public Library.
The approved city budget will be amended by changing estimates of revenue and expenditure appropriations in some functions of city government. A city document said that additional detail is available at the city clerk’s office showing revenues and expenditures by fund type and by activity. See the document here.
Areas that may see increases or decreases in revenue estimates, appropriations, or available cash: Police services, youth task force, transit, human rights services, parks improvements, airport projects, ambulance services, debt service, administrative costs, and street projects. The total Mason CIty budget will grow from $59,984,387 to $61,783,192, an increase of $1,798,805.
To date, no city council member nor Mayor Eric Bookmeyer has mentioned the amended budget nor why it needs to be changed.
Finance Director Kevin Jacobson said that “There are several areas of increases (in the amended budget). There will be no increase in tax levies to be paid in the current fiscal year named above. Any increase in expenditures set out above will be met from the increased non-property tax revenues and cash balances not budgeted or considered in this current budget. This will provide for a balanced budget.”
The council this past winter completed a contentious budgeting process. The state rollback tax was higher than anticipated this year, causing a possible tax hike that the city council worked to offset mainly by diminishing the Human Rights Department and by spending city employee retirement funds. The city is still paying around $290,000 per year on debt from the Northbridge project, a major burden. The council spent freely on sculptures, a remodel of City Hall, Micro Enterprise, Blue Zones and other projects.
13 thoughts on “Mason City budget to be amended; will grow by $1.8 million”
I heard this is the second lowest budget amendment in the last 13 years. This happens every year.
The amount nor the frequency of budget amendments is immaterial. It does not make the fact that the council and Bookmeyer blew the hard-earned tax dollars of the people of Mason City on crap any less excusable. The amendment proves that the council and Bookmeyer are using reserves to cover their pet projects, like Blue Zones, which have absolutely no place in local government. Shameful to say the least.
@Matt-I agree with what you are saying. The amount doesn’t matter, it is what caused the amendments to be necessary that matter.
What has causes all of the previous years budget amendments?
Government employees are never going to take less, like the private sector has been forced to do! They dont live in the real world. The school wants more and more, the county, the city, should be staggering in about 12 months
so unpaid mandated furlough days don’t exist now?
the private sector hasn’t taken less….well the CEOs haven’t. They wages are going way up and companies can make more with less, and raise profits and they keep it for themselves while trying to keep wages as low as possible.
Do you think they can give raises to all city employees and not have to raise the budget. It has to come from somewhere.
The city wants to spend, on average, $169,269.01 a DAY in the next budget? Give me a break!
I have to move out of this town.
When they already planned on spending $164,340.79 per day? A staggering 3% increase! How outrageous! NIT has free classifieds, post something if you need packing boxes.
The 3% increase doesn’t bother me, it’s the per day cost… seems a bit on the high side.
Compared to…