City propeses 2022 budget that will keep mill levy flat

The regular meeting of the Concordia city commission that was scheduled for Wednesday night was cancelled because of a lack of quorum.
There were no action items on the agenda.
Included on the agenda under information was the 2022 budget.
City finance director Amber Farha presented the commissioners information on the budget in a memorandum.
The proposed budget will be published on or around July 23 and the budget hearing is scheduled for August 4, the date of the next regular commission meeting.
The budget calls for $9,263,913 in expenditures with a tax rate of 57.285 mills.
According to Farha, the current year mill levy rate is 57.308. The actual tax rate for 2020 was 57.298 mills.
One mills is approximately $28,833, an increase from $28,824 on the 2021 budget.
Farha stated in the memorandum that operating expenses by departments were held steady or increased up to three percent.
The cost of living adjustment for all employees is 1.2 percent, which is the averaged consumer price index for the preceding year. That amounts to $27,945 for the general fund and $6,381 for the water fund, totaling $34,256.
There is an estimated 5.8 percent increase in health insurance costs and 1.5 increase in dental costs. It shows the city taking all of that increase with no change to the employee costs.
The transfer to the capital improvement projects fund increases from $293,000 in 2021 to $300,000.
A guaranteed general fund reserve at the end of 2022 is $350,097. That is a slight decrease from $351,030 in the 2021 budget.
Farha stated that the guaranteed amount is a bottom dollar amount. Given underestimating revenues and overestimating expenses, she expects no less than $700,000 at the end of 2022, and up to as much as $900,000.
The general fund reserve at the end of 2020 was $1,007,631.