Alexander council keeps 1.5-mills tax rate

The Alexander City Council has decided to keep its current real and personal property tax rate of 1.5 mill for another year. The tax rate will be levied for the 2019 tax year to be collected in 2020.

In 2017 council members agreed to lower the tax rate from its normal 5-mils to 3-mills in anticipation of the passage of a one-cent sales tax in a November 2017 special election. Lowering the property tax rate was a promise made to voters in exchange for passage of the one-cent sales tax increase. The 3-mills rate was levied for the 2017 tax year collected in 2018.

Since the sales tax increase passed, at the suggestion of Mayor Paul Mitchell, the property tax rate was cut in half in 2018 to 1.5-mills. That rate is being used this year to calculate property taxes collected for 2018.

Mitchell told council members they have the option of cutting the rate in half again. It was decided to maintain the current rate, keeping the promise they made to city residents. Mitchell said this still gives Alexander the lowest property tax rate in Saline County.

In other action at the August 19 meeting;

Council members passed an ordinance amending an annexation ordinance that was passed in April. The annexation involved a 1.73-acre parcel added to the southwest corner of the property belonging to Ample Storage, located along Highway 5. Mayor Mitchell said the legal description of the parcel had an east west error in the legal description that placed it in Bryant instead of on the edge of Alexander.

At last month’s council meeting there were only five members present, which limited them to a first public reading of the ordinance. Six (two-thirds) are required to suspend the second and third readings and pass an emergency clause. There were seven council members present at the August meeting allowing the ordinance to be read by title for the second reading, the third reading was suspended and the emergency clause was passed allowing the ordinance to go into effect immediately.

Council members approved the sale of the police department’s two oldest cars purchased in 2008, the street department’s only single-axle dump truck and an Isuzu truck. The dump truck has been replaced by a twin-axle dump truck purchased from Government Surplus. This gives the street department two twin-axle trucks.

Another ordinance, “Permitting council members, officials, or municipal employees to conduct business with the City of Alexander” was approved by council members. This ordinance increases the annual dollar amount of, “compensation for the business” conducted with the City from $2,000, established by a previous ordinance, to $12,000. Mayor Mitchell said the $2,000 amount in the earlier ordinance was an error.

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, September 16 at 6 PM in the courtroom in city hall. The public is invited to attend.