The Mount Vernon levy rate was formally adopted as $13.15 per $1,000, following a budget hearing by the City of Mount Vernon.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch had stated the levy rate needed to increase this fiscal year at meetings earlier in 2023. The levy rate in Mount Vernon had been set at $12.99 per $1,000 for more than 30 years.
Nosbisch noted that while Mount Vernon has seen a significant amount of growth in housing developments over the past few years, due to actions at the state level, they saw a 3.2 percent reduction in property value.
As well, Mount Vernon’s commercial value generates thousands of dollars, not millions as seen in other communities.
That led to this year seeing an almost $200,000 shortfall in the budget, even before dealing with the property rollback issue from last year’s legislature and the need to raise the levy rate for the community.
Nosbisch, in his presentation, highlighted there are 179 cities with population of 1000 or more which have a higher city levy than Mount Vernon. The average levy rate for Iowans is $12.03 per $1,000. For cities with a population of more than 1,000, the average levy rate is $14.03 pre $1,000.
Nosbisch said that while city levy rate may have increased, this is also a year where property values have been equalized.
Mount Vernon levy rate increases to $13.15
April 27, 2023
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.