Legislators acting as an Expanded Budget Committee have recommended that the Legislature amend County Administrator Jason Molino’s 2020 Recommended Budget and the Capital Program for the next five years. At the end of the committee’s October 7 meeting, the recommendation came by unanimous vote. The recommended Tentative Budget includes an amendment, advanced by Legislator Dan Klein, which increases projected revenue (from sales tax and legal settlements) by $100,000 to reduce the tax levy.
The amended budget, to be presented to the Legislature October 15, would increase the County tax levy by 2.75%, just under the initial 2.76% in the Administrator’s budget. The recommended county-wide average tax rate of $6.31 per thousand is 10 cents less than 2019 (a decrease of 1.59%). The amended budget would represent an increase of $12.69 in the tax bill for the median-valued $190,000 home. A $2 increase in the County’s annual Solid Waste Fee, to $60, is also recommended. The amended budget, as proposed, increases use of reserves by $324,402.