NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

Property tax increase of over 3% being proposed for Mason City

Mayor Bill Schickel and City Hall may be coming for a big tax increase to by imposed on Mason City property owners.

MASON CITY – A sizable tax increase of over 3% is being considered for Mason City property owners.

A City Hall memo posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, states that the town council will consider a property tax increase of 3.58%.  The memo claims, “Increase in Regular General levy is due to increase in additional taxable valuation. Increase in Tort is due to additional property valuation which increased insurance cost. Increase in Police & Fire Retirement is due to increase in wages subject to retirement and increase in the retirement rate from MFPRSI. Increase in FICA & IPERS is due to an increase in wages subject to the payroll tax. Increase in Other Employee Benefits is due to increased health costs.”

Back in 2013, NIT was the only local media to attend and report upon a very important meeting that has impacted this possible property tax increase for the steadfast Mason City property owners.  The Conference Board – comprised of officials from city hall, the school board and the board of supervisors – met in February of that year.  Their apparent aim was to drum up new funds by setting loose upon the community a newly-hired assessor.  This employee was to unleash her minions and go door-to-door and assess properties in the community at higher rates whenever they deemed they could do so.

Dana Shipley’s assessments will pay dividends for city hall for years to come, at the expense of hard-working property owners.  Elections matter, some say.

At this meeting, Mason City Assessor Dana Naumann (now known as Dana Shipley and remains on the job to this day), advocated for spending $1 million on a project that would assess all properties in Mason City. The Conference Board approved the idea after a vote on the matter. The $1 million dollars was paid for by taxpayers; as NIT reported, “Naumann explained that the project is needed because many properties in Mason City are under-valued and over-valued and in the interest of fairness, the project should be done. The project will cost the average Mason City taxpayer $55 over the course of 5 years.”

In 2016, the project was undertaken when the assessor’s office announced door-to-door inspections of all residential properties in Mason City and Cerro Gordo County would begin on approximately June 1 of that year. Once the project was complete, Naumann explained to NIT, the other three taxing entities involved (Council and Mayor; Supervisors and the Mason City School Board) “should have more property value to levy against.”

If you have concerns about this tax increase, the town council will hold a public hearing on March 2, 2021, via ZOOM, at which you may voice your opinion.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

17 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
17
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x