Laserfiche WebLink
CITY OF GEM LAKE <br />Heritage Hall <br />4200 Otter Lake Road | Gem Lake, MN 55110 <br />651-747-2790/92 | 651-747-2795 (fax) <br />E-mail city@gemlakemn.org <br /> <br /> <br />September 12, 2024 <br /> <br />RE: 2025 Preliminary Property Tax Levy. <br /> <br />State Statutes require Cities to certify their preliminary property tax levies by September 30th this <br />year. Once the preliminary property tax levy is approved and certified to the County Auditor, the <br />City can lower the levy during the remaining budget process but cannot exceed the certified <br />preliminary levy. For this reason, most Cities certify a preliminary levy using worst-case budget <br />scenarios, which is the case with the City’s 2025 preliminary property levy and budget. <br /> <br />The 2025 preliminary property tax levy is proposed at $733,757, which is a 2.231% increase <br />from the 2024 certified preliminary property tax levy. The 2025 preliminary property tax levy <br />consists of a debt levy of $83,736.00 (an increase from 2024 preliminary debt levy of $2,182.00) <br />and the general operating levy of $650,021.00 (an increase of 2.174% from the 2024 preliminary <br />tax levy). <br /> <br />The following changes were made from the 2024 adopted budget as a basis for the 2025 <br />proposed preliminary property tax levy: <br /> <br />1. Based on the 2015 Refunding Bond schedule the debt levy for 2025 is set for $79,711.00. <br />In addition, in 2018, the City issued bonds for the improvements on Scheuneman Road <br />and the 2025 debt levy for this issue is $4,025.00. The two of these debt levies makes up <br />the City’s 2025 debt levy of $83,736. <br />2. Increased City Council wages 3%. <br />3. City Council contingency was increased to $15,000 (was $9,000). <br />4. Clerk/General Government budget includes $63,000.00 for wages and $11,550 for health <br />insurance coverage. <br />5. Planning & Zoning budget increased $8,950.00 based on past expenditures. <br />6. Police budget was increased 13.85% to $147,396 based on the City of White Bear Lake <br />budget provided us and includes $133,089 for police services and $14,307 for debt <br />payments on the new public facilities building. <br />7. The cost of fire services increase 8.54% to $52,827.00. It includes $35,300 for fire <br />services, $8,181 for fire marshal services, and $9,346 for depreciation on the new public <br />facilities building. <br />a. Overall, the City of White Bear Lake would like you to pay $23,653 for the next <br />20 years for their new facility. <br />8. Road Maintenance budget includes $20,000 for road maintenance/repair and $8,000 for <br />trimming boulevard trees. <br />9. Salt/sand reduced $4,000 to $8,000 and snow plowing contract increased from $14,500 to <br />$15,000, both based on past expenditures. <br />10. Heritage Hall budget includes $10,000 for building improvements and $10,000 for other <br />equipment/improvements. <br />11. Included a park maintenance budget of $7,000 for maintaining park area of the Villas of <br />Gem Lake. <br />12. The 2025 budget includes $20,000.00 for future improvements.