Public Works
General Maintenance/Streets .....$686,427
Snow Removal .............................$16,000
Street Lighting ..............................$57,500
Signal Lights ..................................$2,800

Recycling ........................................$3,738

TOTAL Public Works          $766,465

Parks and Recreation
Recreation Activities ....................$35,459
Appropriation to Field House .....$367,667
Park and Recreation ...................$170,359
TOTAL Park & Rec             $573,485

Miscellaneous
 TOTAL Miscellaneous      $229,8876

Fund Balance Reserve ................. $44,450
TOTAL EXPENDITURES       $3,667,634

Projected transfers for 2007 include Field House $367,667; Fire Truck Fund $75,000; Community Development Pro-jects $178,856


2007 TAX LEVY TO INCREASE BY 20%
YET CITY OF VICTORIA TAX RATE HOLDS STEADY
 On August 24th Victoria City Coun-cilmembers approved a preliminary tax levy for the City of Victoria for collection in 2007.
The City of Victoria is dependent on collection of a tax on real and personal property for a portion of the General Fund Operating Budget and to pay bonded debt.   Other city revenue comes from such things as fees and charges for services.
A tax levy of $3,716,515 will be cer-tified to Carver County no later than Sep-tember 15th, 2006, and will be upon tax-able property in the City of Victoria in 2007 for the following purposes:


CITY OF VICTORIA
General Fund Levy ..................$3,121,004
Diethelm Park Land Lease ...........$90,000
GO Refunding Bonds of 2000 ....$147,646
GO Equipment Cert. of 2004 .......$65,048
GO 2004 Improvement Bonds ...$114,982
GO Equipment Cert. of 2006 .......$50,000
GO 2006 Improvement Bonds ...$127,835
TOTAL Certified Levy         $3,716,515

As can be seen, the total tax levy is the sum of the General Fund Levy, special levies for bonded indebtedness, and an EDA lease payment.  This proposed levy for 2007 is an increase of $609,432 over the 2006 tax levy of $3,107,083.  It amounts to 19.6% increase. 
As the Finance Director pointed out, the City of Victoria realized an overall increase in the total assessed market value of 18.91%.  Because there are more homes in Victoria this year than last year, giving a greater assessed market value in Victoria, there is more tax money.
*General Fund Levy of $3,121,004 supports basic city services such as streets, sewer, water, snowplowing, fire protection, administration, planning, police, attorneys, engineers, parks.  It also provides for a transfer of $367,667 to the Field House budget.
*Diethelm Park Land Lease is for the park land that the city leases from itself, acting as the Economic Development Authority.  The EDA issued Lease Reven-ue Bonds to fund the purchase of the Diet-helm Park Land.
*General Obligation Refunding Bonds of 2000 are a compilation of old bonds issues.
*General Obligation Equipment Certificate of 2004 is for two Public Works vehicles including a dump truck-snowplow combination and pickup truck.
*General Obligation 2004 Improve-ment Bonds are for road reconstruction projects in the city for which the city pays 50%.
*General Obligation Equipment Certificates of 2006 pay for trucks and capital equipment purchased in 2006 including a new snowplow and pickup.
*General Obligation 2006 Improve-ment bonds fund the 2006 street reconstruction projects, for which the city pays 50%.

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As reported in the adjacent budget item, the city taxes on a home in Victoria in 2007 would be the same as the city taxes paid in 2006 if the market value of that home would remain the same.  But the valuation is going up and taxes are going up.
The Truth in Taxation Hearing for the City of Victoria has been scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Monday, December 4th, with a continuation to Thursday, December 14th, at which time the final budget and levy for 2007 will be approved.

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