Brick City Blog

The Chaska City Council held a worksession on Monday, November 15 to discuss the final city budget.  As you may recall, the Council approved in September a preliminary levy equal to that of last year, which effectively means that property taxes will be raised 6.7% to offset a similar decline in property valuations in 2011. 

Under the preliminary levy, the median homeowner in Chaska would see a decline in property taxes of $1 versus a decline of $30 if the tax rate were to stay the same.

Additionally, the plan called for the following cuts:

The cuts and the tax hikes represent a combined $639,000, offsetting increases in personnel (1.5%) and operating expenses (2%).

As part of that meeting, the council also reviewed City Administrator Matt Podhradsky’s recommendations regarding cuts should the Council choose to keep the tax rate steady instead of increasing it.  Councilor Greg Boe had asked for this view last month (long after it had been called for by some members of the community).

These cuts include:

• Reduced or delayed expenditures for the street reconstruction program
• Eliminate the downtown flower program
• Eliminate the “Concerts in the Park”
• Reduced support for the Fireman’s Park beach and outdoor ice rinks
• Eliminate free services (such as police coverage, sanitation, and port-a-potties) for events like Taste of Chaska and River City Days

Chaska Herald coverage of the worksession indicates that the Council was likely to stick with the preliminary levy.

What’s not on the table for cuts, based on the preliminary levy and Podhradsky’s stable tax rate scenario:

• City employee salaries:  slated for 1.5% increase.  Some union contracts (including the police contracts) have already been approved by the Council at that rate.
• Cuts to core city services:  police, fire, etc.

What’s your take?  Should we make these cuts, or increase taxes?  Should the things that are off the table be on the table?