Sellers seeks 1 cent reduction in property tax

City Manager Scott Sellers e-mailed the city council the rough draft of his proposed FY 2016-17 budget this evening and in it he is recommending a 1 cent reduction in the city’s property tax rate as well as a much needed stormwater fund.

I plan to look at the budget a little more closely beginning tomorrow morning, but here, in Sellers’s own words, are what he considers the highlights of his second proposed city budget:

• "The budget includes a 1 cent decrease in the property tax.
• "There is no proposed fee increase in the Water/Wastewater Utility fund.
• "There is the creation of a Stormwater Drainage and Flood Risk Mitigation Fund.
• "There is no anticipated debt issuance."

On the face of it, all that sounds like good news, Council members and citizens will have an opportunity to study Sellers’s proposed budget for a little more than a week prior to the council’s budget workshop which begins at 8 a.m., Saturday, July 30 in council chambers.