Thanks to rising property values, Rock Island will have some more money to spend next year. Monday night the city council will continue reviewing budget proposals from the various departments with final approval expected later this month.
Interim City Manager, Randy Tweet, says for the 6th year in a row Rock Island's property tax rate will stay the same. But because property values are rising after several years of declines, the city will receive an estimated 324,000 dollars in new revenue.
"So the majority of that is for police and fire pensions. Then the parks and library each get a portion and they're getting a slight increase this year because of the increase in the e-a-v."
It's estimated that e-a-v, or equalized assessed valuation, in the city will go up nearly 3 per cent (2.96 %) next year.
Tweet says Rock Island aldermen are scheduled to give their final approval to the new budget during their next two meetings, then submit a proposed property tax levy to the county by the end of the month.
The city's new fiscal year begins January lst.
