Mayor Svante Myrick ’09 proposed a budget to the Ithaca Common Council Monday that includes a 6.6 percent decrease in the Ithaca property tax rate, according to the mayor’s Facebook post.
If his proposal passes, more than half of the homeowners in Ithaca will pay less in taxes in 2017, even the ones that saw their assessments increase, according to Myrick. He explained that homes that saw “huge jumps in their assessments” will only experience “modest tax increases.”
“My budget will increase Fire Department staffing by five people, increase our investment in street paving and still lower the tax rate in the City of Ithaca next year by 6.6 percent,” he said.
Myrick added that, if the proposal passes, the city’s tax rate will be the lowest it has been since 2003, “essentially rolling tax bills back by 13 years.”
For the last five years, Myrick said he has been “aggressively” seeking federal and state funds, controlling city costs to operate “more efficiently” and expanding the city’s tax base through smart growth “in the core of the city.”
“New growth means the value of land in the city increased by 10 percent last year,” he said. “Some of that is in assessment increases on existing property but most is in the growth from new apartments in Collegetown and Downtown.”
Ithaca Common Council meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at City Hall. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 5.