The City of Sartell budget for next year will increase by 7.6 percent, and the tax rate will increase by 2.8 percent from this year.
At its Dec. 8 meeting, the city council approved the budget of $6,217,343. The general fund for 2015 is $4,340,878. With debt service and abatements added, the total preliminary tax levy for 2015 will be $5,106,931. The rest of the $6.2 million will be covered by fees and other revenue to the city.
Public-works projects – mainly roads, as well as city safety costs (police, fire departments) – are the two biggest budget items, as is typical annually, noted Sartell City Administrator Mary Degiovanni.
The budget also includes the cost of hiring a public-works maintenance employee; a part-time administrative city-staff position; a community-service officer for the police department, which is a position that has been vacant since 2008, and a planning-associate position in city hall that was vacant following a resignation this year.
