Merrill Mayor Derek Woellner has announced that a special Common Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 6:15 p.m. to reconsider the 2019 city budget.
The Merrill Common Council approved the budget at its Nov. 13 meeting, however Woellner subsequently vetoed that budget, stating the tax levy increase of 4.71% was too high. Woellner said he wanted to see the levy increase held to 3%.
The budget approved by the council Nov. 13 included a 1.79% increase in operations expenses and a 2.92% hike in debt service. The corresponding tax levy of $5,907,612 would have put the city’s mill rate at $14.49 per $1,000 of assessed property value, compared to last year’s rate of $13.70. On a $75,000 property, the tax increase for city purposes would have been $59.
In a related matter, the city’s Personnel & Finance Committee is meeting today at 5 p.m. to review and consider early payoff of State Trust Fund loans to restructure 2019 and future debt service.