The Jefferson City Council recently approved its 2016 fiscal year budget.

The City is projected to bring in more revenue than expenses.  Total revenues expected are $7,995,067 and expenses are $7,310,036.  It’s a total from the City’s three accounts: the Road Use Tax, Proprietary (water and sewer) and the General Fund.

The tax levy will drop two cents from $15.28 to $15.26 per $1,000 valuation.  Residents will notice an increase in water and sewer rates for the 2016 fiscal year.  The Council has decided to raise those by three percent.  City Administrator Mike Palmer talks about why utility rates increase almost every fiscal year.

“We always find that it’s a little easier on the consumer just to raise them two to three percent rather than just let it hang out there year after year with no raise at all and then hit everybody with a big raise all at once.  That happens to go through a series of ordinance changes.  Sometimes it may not be until June or July before the consumer starts to see those changes.”

Looking ahead, Palmer points out the added benefit of receiving additional funds from Wild Rose Jefferson.  It is projected that the City will receive about $150,000 per year for its automatic half percent rate from the adjusted gross income from.  Palmer explains the plans that the City has for the money.

“It helps us balance our budget certainly, which is a good thing.  But we’re also trying to save about a third of it to put back in our General Fund, just to build our General Fund back up from some of the expenditures that we’ve had over the years.”

Overall, Palmer is happy with how the budget came out for the upcoming fiscal year.