Melcher cites need for higher spending
Aurora City Council members passed the fiscal year 2022-2023 total disbursements and transfer budget of $17.2 million last week, up from $16 million last year with a 5.06 percent tax asking request increase in what city administrator Rick Melcher explained as necessary for development projects.
Valuation has risen from $440 million last year to $560 million, according to Melcher, upwards of a 14 percent increase, with a tax levy up from 33.78 cents per $100 valuation to 37.88 cents per $100 valuation. Based on the budget approved at the Sept. 28 meeting, taxes on a house in Aurora valued at $100,000 would be $378.80, up from $337.80.
Melcher discussed in an interview before the passage of the budget that the city is preparing for a fourth and fifth expansion of the Streeter housing subdivision and the proposed Highway 34 expansion, noting that both are important to the future of Aurora.
“Development for a community is a huge deal for anybody, whether it’s commercial or residential,” Melcher said. “Because you’re bringing tax base, for one, helping everybody else out with paying taxes, but not only that, you can get goods and services, like retail and commercial, that creates jobs. So I think both of them are good and the Aurora Development Corporation does a good job trying to get those (here).”
Melcher explained that the increase in the tax request will help provide flexibility in the budget regarding these future projects, and keep the city from having to acquire debt through bonds.
“Well bond is indebtedness, so it isn’t, in our opinion, to be in a great deal of debt because you have other projects that you might have to fund that are more related to economic development,” he explained. “Say a reasonably sized manufacturer or industrial type use, or commercial for that matter, wants to come to Aurora and we have to get some infrastructure out to him so they can so they can build their facility there. That could take maybe a couple million dollars or more and we’ve got to be able to finance that too. We always want to be able to take care of the unknown.”
Melcher stated that the operating budget has remained relatively consistent from last year, though inflation is also a factor in the higher tax asking request.
“The budget was similar to what it was last year,” Melcher said. “It’s gone up a little bit in operations, but as everybody knows, it’s based on the rate of growth (and) everyone’s seen inflation. And so, our last year was around $1.4 million and operating budget this year is about $1.5. million. So those are just round numbers. It didn’t change a great deal, but much of that is due to inflation.”
Regarding the planned projects, Melcher also indicated that the subdivision expansion will be taking a large portion of the budget.
“I’ve been told that there’s a good possibility that will take place next year, or in this next budget year, so that much of the dollars are going to come from that 5 percent,” he elaborated. “And not only that, but if we do that, we’ll have to have an access road to Grant Street, from Grant Street to the subdivision off of Highway 34.”
Funds needed for Hwy 34
He also said that in preparation of the Highway 34 improvements, the city needs to save some money to cover part of the funding along with the state.
“We believe that we’ll have to put up quite a bit, according to DOT,” Melcher said about the Department of Transportation. “They’re going to cover the number of lanes that come into the community once it gets to the community. They tell us that those extra lanes are our responsibility.”
As for COVID-19 relief funds, Melcher said the city has received both portions of funds from the federal government, the first used for the development and the second to be used for a later project.
“The second one will probably use in 2024 for a pending emergency vehicle,” he said. “So those are going to be used. We didn’t want to use it in a way that would create additional tax liability by using the funds and that way we’re not doing that or we’re actually going to gain revenue by using the funds the way we did years ago.”
As to any concerns about the increase of tax asking, Melcher says that Aurora residents will receive returns from the projects in the future.
“We went over it with the developer and we feel that the monies that we spent on that project will return to us in four to five years,” he said. “So then that money is going to be seen by the taxpayers.”
In other action, Aurora City Council members:
* voted to exceed the budget lid by 1 percent;
* approved the final pay applications for Streeter 3rd and 4th additions.