Knox Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston told the city council this week that the budget order came back, and the city is $45 shy of the maximum levy. The maximum levy is the maximum amount of money the city can collect from taxes. Houston said they couldn’t have gotten any closer, which is good.
Houston noted that he spoke to Matt Parkinson from the Department of Local Government Finance who said that the city will know in April about how much the tax caps will affect the city’s budget. When Houston gets that information, he will let the department heads know how much they will need to cut from their department. Last year, the city was cut over $200,000.
Houston said when he knows what percentage will be cut; each department head will have a specific percentage to cut from their budgets. The same process will be used as last year. Funds like motor vehicle highway and parks may have a solid number that needs to be trimmed.
This year’s budget is approximately $2.8 million. Appraised values have done down.
The maximum assessed value of properties in 2014 was $101 million, which is down $11 million from 2012.
