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Area Cities, Schools Work Toward Budget Approval

Courtesy Photo

In Commerce, the proposed tax rate for the new fiscal year is the same as last year, $0.82 per $100 valuation.

Since the city’s effective rate is $.817, the City Council needs to hold two public hearings on the item, the first of which was conducted last week. The second and final hearing is during a special meeting Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 5:30 p.m. from City Hall.

The Commerce City Council also last week approved a first reading increasing the water and wastewater rates by what City Manager Marc Clayton called a blended increase of four to five percent.

Council members also heard from financial advisor Jim Sabonis of First Southwest prior to approving the issuance of general obligation refunding and improvement bonds. Sabonis informed the council that by locking in a 2.6 percent interest rate on more than $9 million in bond money, the city will save more than $600,000. $3 million of that was approved by citizens in 2008 and dedicated toward street repair. The remaining $6 million is general outstanding debt the city chose to refinance.

The first and second public hearings for the City of Greenville budget and tax rate have been set for September 11 and September 18. A final vote will be held September 25.

Proposed is a tax rate of $.699 cents per $100 valuation, the same rate currently in place and the one adopted for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

On Monday, the Paris Junior College Board of Regents approved a $39 million budget, funded by a property tax rate of $.187, down from last year’s rate of $.19. Regents say this should bring the college the same amount of revenue as in the previous year.