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<br />mail boy <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />December 2014 <br />Volume 8, Issue 6 Gem Lake News <br />Special Interest <br />Articles: <br /> <br />• 2014 <br />Accomplishments <br /> <br />• Long-Term Planning <br />for Development <br /> <br />• City News Page 4 <br /> <br />• Ordinance Changes <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Upcoming Recycling <br />Dates: <br /> November 26 <br /> December 10 <br /> December 24 <br /> <br /> <br />Gretchen Artig-Swomley, Newsletter Editor <br />The Gem Lake City Council approved a General <br />Fund Operating Budget of $331,932 for 2015 at <br />the November 18 City Council Meeting. Most <br />residents of Gem Lake can breathe a relief <br />regarding their own property taxes. <br /> <br />This figure is down considerably from the <br />$431,108 prelim inary budget submitted to the <br />County for preliminary tax statements to residents <br />of our city. The preliminary property tax levy of <br />$369,819 was based on the preliminary budget <br />also feed into the statements and led to some <br />sticker shock on the party of property owners. The <br />final property tax levy for 2015, based on the <br />refined budget figures, will be $254,155, a 10% <br />increase over the 2014 levy, but a $787 decrease <br />from the 2013 levy. <br /> <br />(Continued on page 2) <br />Final 2015 Gem Lake Budget Approved <br /> <br />Development in Gem Lake: Think Long Term <br />There has been much talk about development <br />or redevelopment of Gem Lake’s business <br />district. Sometimes people think they are out of <br />the loop and must have missed something. <br />“What development?” they say. <br /> <br />In truth, while there has been interest in Gem <br />Lake by developers, there have been no <br />proposals submitted for considerations to the <br />city council or planning commission. There are <br />also no concrete proposals on the drawing <br />board, although ideas get tossed around on a <br />casual basis to the owners of the property. <br /> <br />Without being the owner of any of the parcels <br />in the business district, the city can only foster <br />an environment that is conducive to <br />development. This means things like drafting <br />ordinances that encourage development rather <br />than turning off folks with restrictions. It also <br />means investigating improvements to utilities <br />and determining if pollution exists and how it <br />can be mitigated. All these things take years to <br /> <br />(Continued page 2) <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />