Sturtevant residents will pay the same amount in property taxes in 2015 as they did in 2014.
Trustees Tuesday night approved the coming year’s budget with a 5-1 vote; board member Jayme Hoffman dissented, and Gary Johnson was absent.
Property owners will pay $8.56 per $1,000 in assessed value, a cent less than they paid in 2014. Village Administrator/Clerk Mary Cole said because assessments are up in the village, the mill rate will remain stable instead of going up the two cents she originally calculated.
The new budget also includes an amendment that transfers $5,000 from the fireworks contingency fund to parks for maintenance, and Hoffman said that is why he voted against the budget.
“I feel like it’s unfair to tell the fireworks committee to keep working as they always have and then take $5,000 away,” he said. “I think this kind of move should have been done prior to the referendum during our budget meetings.”
On election night, citizens rejected a referendum to increase taxes for five years to help pay for the fireworks and village parks, trustees were divided over how to move forward.
After a lengthy discussion at the Nov. 12 committee meeting, trustees agreed that the fireworks planning and fundraising would continue as usual. Board member Chris Larsen, though, said residents voted to keep tax money out of the fireworks and introduced the budget amendment that moved $5,000 from fireworks to parks.
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