Taxing discussion for LeClaire officials

By Mary Louise Speer | Tuesday, February 12, 2008

LeCLAIRE, Iowa — LeClaire city officials began a series of taxing discussions on fiscal year 2008-09 budget Monday night at the committee-of-the-whole meeting.

City Council members must decide whether to increase the residential tax levy in order to offset increases over the past year for damages and claims and unemployment.

“My husband and I pay a lot of city taxes, but we don’t get any services,” said LeClaire resident Lisa Zelle, who lives along a graveled section of Holland Street that lacks access to city sewer or the Iowa American Co.’s water system. “We would just like to see a little of our tax dollars used on our side of town, or they could de-annex us.”

The average assessed valuation on homes has risen by 13.3 percent, which means LeClaire residents will see an increase in their tax bill even without an increase in the levy, Councilman Ron Leiby said.

He does not advocate raising taxes. The 13.3 percent, “to me, that’s enough of a kick,” he said.

City officials can raise the tax levy to the maximum by $1.23 per $1,000 assessed value, go with a partial increase or leave the rate alone at $14.69 per $1,000 assessed value. City Administrator Edwin Choate said a $1.23 increase would make up the city’s deficit in those areas in a year.

Council members also discussed capital improvement projects on city streets that would be funded through a bond issue. That includes $150,000 for three streets on the RAGBRAI entry route.

“We’re not going to raise taxes for RAGBRAI. The streets we’re going to be fixing would need to be fixed anyway,“ Mayor Robert Scannell said. “I think it’s going to be a good budget discussion, and we’re getting some input from the citizens, which is good. It helps us get some actual feel of what we’re looking at.”