City of Mason City holds “Truth in Taxation” budget hearing tonight

MASON CITY — The City Council in Mason City tonight holds its “Truth in Taxation” preliminary hearing for the city’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget. State lawmakers recently eliminated the “Max Levy” hearing that had been done for a number of years and replaced it with the “Truth in Taxation” hearing, which comes after the notice taxpayers received in their mailbox recently.

The hearing will be one of two separate meetings tonight, with the first being the hearing at 7 o’clock. After the hearing, that meeting will be adjourned with the council having a second special meeting at 7:15 PM to consider setting the final budget hearing for the council’s April 16th meeting.

Mayor Bill Schickel says the city is planning on a slightly reduced tax rate for the next fiscal year that starts on July 1st.  “The facts are that Mason City’s tax rate will be flat to slightly declining this year. The City Council and the staff have done a fantastic job of putting together a budget that addresses all of our law enforcement and public safety needs along with our infrastructure needs and some capital improvement, and with a flat budget and a slightly declining tax rate.”

You can see more about the city’s proposed budget by clicking here

Both City Council meetings will take place in the Mason City Room of the Public Library.