Mason City council schedules budget hearing

MASON CITY — The City Council in Mason City this week set the date of the public hearing as they prepare to adopt the budget for the city’s next fiscal year beginning on July 1st. The city’s property tax rate for Fiscal Year 2020 will be $13.72 per $1000 valuation, down 11 cents from the current fiscal year.

Mayor Bill Schickel says based on the decreased levy coupled with the increase in the state-mandated residential rollback, a home with a $100,000 value will pay about $12 more for the year in city taxes.  “The levy will be going down slightly. The overall valuation of property in Mason City has gone up. So it will be about even, perhaps a slight increase in what the average property owner will be paying, along with if you include the utility bill in there, which there is some cost of living increases there. But it will be very similar to last year.”

City staff and the council have been holding budget meetings over the last month to formulate the proposed budget. “I can’t say enough good about our staff…you know, we are not able to provide everything that’s requested obviously, the city council has to make choices. Our workers and the staff are very good at helping us prioritize that, and it’s been a very good process this year.”

The council will hold a public hearing on the budget and is scheduled to adopt it at their March 5th meeting. By law cities must have their budgets submitted to the state by March 15th.

You can view the budget by clicking here and scrolling down to page 141.