At its meeting last Thursday, March 4, the Marion City Council voted to approve the city's budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, with a tax levy of $13.63 per $1,000 of taxable value.

The levy rate is down from the current fiscal year's rate of 14.13. However, the amount levied from each $100,000 of taxable value will increase 1.2% over what was collected for 2009-10, due to an increase in the state's rollback, which determines how much of each $100,000 of property value is taxed according to the productivity of farm land.

This year's rollback of 46.909% means that a home worth $100,000 is taxed on $46,909 of its value, whereas last year it would have been taxed on $45,589 (45.589%) of its value. The property owner would pay $639.65 in property taxes, up slightly from last year's amount of $632.09.

The rollback was recently as low as 44.080% for the 2008-09 fiscal year, but City Manager Lon Pluckhahn said factors such as a spike in ethanol production caused the rollback to rise over the past two years. He estimated the rollback could go back down again after one more year.

The city will see a 7.08% increase in total taxable value for the coming fiscal year, up to $1,141,690,053 from $1,055,612,483 in 2009-10. This marks the third year that Marion's taxable value has topped $1 billion.

The projects budgeted for 2010-11 include working on the next phase of the 7th Ave. redevelopment plan, continued sub-area planning, funding of Imagine8 projects and extensions of South 31st St. and Tower Terrace Road, near Alburnett Road.

Pluckhahn said the city saw a decrease in the number of building permits given out over the past year, following years of a building boom. While the total value of new building projects in Marion during the past three years topped $48 million, only $39 million took place this past year. Pluckhahn observed this was still a strong number, although not what the city has become accustomed to. As new construction takes up to two years to enter the tax rolls, however, he added that the decrease would not be felt immediately, if at all, should the economic recovery begin to be felt in 2010.

The city stands to see more growth in available funds in 2011 and beyond, depending on the results of the 2010 U.S. Census. The previous Census, from 2000, put Marion's population at just over 26,000, although Pluckhahn said current estimates give the city an outside chance of topping 35,000, putting upwards of $600,000 in additional dollars on the line.

As proposed, the budget includes no increase in sewer fees, due to last year's Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), which saw a sizeable portion go toward a massive metro sewer upgrade, which Marion is a part of.

The current fiscal year ends on June 30. The 2010-11 fiscal year begins July 1. Cities have until March 15 to turn their budgets in to the state.