The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an increase to the property tax rates for the next year at their June 2 meeting.
A mill rate is how many dollars a homeowner pays per thousand dollars of their assessed property value. The tax helps pay for things like education, public services, and bond debt that voters have already approved.
There’s usually a cap on how much can be taxed —10 mills— but the newly approved rate goes a bit over that. That’s because the taxes used to pay for bond debt don’t count towards that limit.
Assembly members approved the rate increase unanimously. The total mill rate for property within municipal service limits (Service Area One) is increasing from 10 mills to 10.8. The area-wide total that includes property outside of town, like in the Papke’s Landing neighborhood, is increasing from 4.2 mills to 5 mills, mostly due to a voter-approved bond for school construction.
The assembly also took a final vote on the borough’s overall fiscal year budget, which starts July 1 and runs through June 30 of next year.
In May, the assembly amended the budget to include a million-dollar appropriation from the harbor reserves. That money would go towards a potential dock extension project spearheaded by American Cruise Lines. But the official language states that none of the money can be spent without getting written approval from the assembly first.
The assembly passed the budget voting 5–2, with Vice Mayor Donna Marsh and Mayor Mark Jensen opposed. Jensen said he voted against the overall budget because he disagrees with the million-dollar appropriation for the project.
The assembly voted to continue looking at increasing rates for water, sewer and electricity and limiting the senior sales tax exemption to just low-income seniors.
The town’s population has aged a lot since the exemption began over four decades ago. Proponents say that now, the exemption costs the borough nearly half a million dollars a year in lost tax revenue.
Public testimonies heard at the meeting regarding the exemption change urged the borough to develop a policy for seniors who fall outside the income bracket but have limited financial resources, and to share more information for community members to review. If passed by the assembly at their next meeting on June 16, that issue would be put on the local ballot for voters to ultimately decide on this fall.
