City Council gives final approval for ‘14 budget

The Clear Lake City Council approved its fiscal year 2014 budget following a public hearing Monday night.  

For the third straight year, the tax rate for the City of Clear Lake for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins, July 1, 2013 and ends June 30, 2014, is $10.54 per $1,000 of taxable value.  

City Administrator Scott Flory reported that Clear Lake continues to feature one of the lowest tax rates in Iowa for cities with a population of greater than 5,000.  Flory reported that the Iowa Constitution limits general obligation 

debt to no more than 5 percent of 100 percent of assessed value.  For the first time in its history, assessed values in Clear Lake have topped $800 million, making 5 percent roughly $40 million.  Clear Lake has a mere $5.5 million in general obligation bond debt, or 14 percent, said Flory.  The general school of thought is that communities using 60 to 70 percent of their assessed value are in ‘good’ position, he said.

The fiscal year 2014 budget reflects total expenditures among the various programs of roughly $15 million; of which, $6.9 million is directed towards operations, $1.1 million to debt service; and $7 million to capital.  Major capital improvements in the budget include a new water tower at $2.4 million, approximately $1 million of renovations at City Hall, work on North Shore Drive estimated at $2.3 million, and more than $700,000 in various street and sidewalk repairs.

The City must now certify its budget to the County Auditor by March 15.