In an agenda statement to the City Council of Webster City, City Manager John Harrenstein, Finance Director Dodie Wolfgram and Elizabeth Ann Smith and Sherry Simmons, both deputy city clerks, recommended Monday the adoption of higher property tax levies versus those of the previous fiscal year.

The levy for residential property would rise by 8.3% and the levy for commercial property by 9.72% under the plan.

The increases were blamed on inflationary pressure and higher costs for insurance plans for city employees. If approved by the Council following the public hearing, the new levies will go into effect on the first day of the city’s 2025/26 fiscal year, July 1, 2025.

Readers should keep in mind that a levy is not the same thing as the final rate taxpayers will pay. It is, in reality, the maximum amount of funds the city can raise in taxes for the fiscal year.

The agenda statement noted, “changes to the levy include inflationary increases in the general and employee benefit funds. In addition, the debt service levy is proposed to fund a portion of debt service needed for the Fairmeadow 1 & 2 street reconstruction projects.”

Although not specifically called out in the agenda statement, Harrenstein confirmed the HVAC renewal project at City Hall will also be included in the debt service requirements.

The agenda statement reminded the Council, “this (the levy) may be adjusted downward by Council during budget work sessions, but not upward, following the public hearing. Any funding toward reducing the proposed levy will come from the Road Use Tax Fund or Sales Tax Fund that can be used to support debt payments related to road projects.”

Road improvements have indeed been among the largest expenditures in the city’s budget in recent years. In early 2022, city staff went through extensive strategic planning exercises conducted by Callahan Muni Consultants LLC of Anamosa. One of the top recommendations arising from those sessions was for the city to set aside $1 million each year for street improvements.

The condition of the city’s streets, which have been degraded from increasing traffic and lack of maintenance over many years, has steadily improved since funding for annual street improvement projects have come into effect.

In other action, Council:

— Resolved to hold a public hearing on plans to rebuild Beach Street between First and Ohio streets, a distance of 0.7 miles. Due to heavy traffic, the patching will be full-depth plain cement concrete. Hot melt asphalt is the usual material used by the city on less busy streets. The project will also include sidewalk replacement, ADA ramp improvements (curb cuts) and storm sewer intake improvements. Bids will be opened April 7, and construction could begin as early as May 5, 2025. Completion is scheduled for the end of October.

— Approved use of an on-call paving specialist from Snyder & Associates, Ankeny, for 2025 hot melt asphalt (HMA) street improvements. Passage of the resolution allows professional engineers and other Snyder staff to manage administration and construction of the projects. The city has employed Snyder for this purpose since February 2017. Snyder has also been hired to manage certification of the city’s greatly expanded industrial park.

— Agreed to hire Snyder & Associates technical staff to inspect seven bridges in Webster City. The city is required to perform routine bridge inspections every 24 months. The actual inspections will be done in August; a report to the Iowa Department of Transportation will be filed in November, and a meeting held with city staff in December. From that meeting, city staff will plan and budget for any bridge repairs or improvements required by the inspections

— Voted to pay Peerless Well & Pump, Dubuque, $84,725 to repair the city’s well No. 6, which was last repaired nine years ago, in 2016. The well is one of three that provide water to the city’s treatment plant. It was drilled in 1979. The figure above includes $39,950 feet of 10-inch epoxy-coated column pipe.

— Approved purchase of the single-family residence at 208 Division Street for $5,000. The Council memorandum noted the property has violated the city’s nuisance ordinance since 2013, and was identified as abandoned in 2021. The home is the latest in a series of derelict commercial and residential properties the city has acquired and now must either demolish or refurbish at taxpayer expense.