City Administrator Steve Barg informed the Common Council on Monday of additional funds that were made available by the state to offset the loss in revenue from changes made to the Personal Property Tax.
Prior to 2019, all property owned by businesses was taxed. The list of items that businesses had to claim as property taxes was changed between the 2018-2019 tax years meaning the number of items that could be taxed was limited, resulting in a $5 million decrease in taxable value for the City.
According to Barg, the City will be receiving $218,000 in funding from the state to help offset the changes. This is money that was not included in the proposed 2019 budget.
Barg presented three options to the Common Council for how to spend the money. First was to reduce the increase in the tax rate, second would be to reduce the amount the city will take out of reserves, and third would be to move the money to projects that were cut from the budget.
The council will decide how to use this additional revenue, along with any other changes to the budget, at one of the next two budget meetings, either on October 29th or November 5th. Both meetings are at 6:00 p.m. and will include a public comment section where the citizens of Marshfield can voice their opinions on the budget.
