T-R PHOTO BY MIKE DONAHEY Marshalltown finance director Diana Steiner presents budget information to the city council during a special meeting Monday.

There were no oral or written comments from residents during a Marshalltown City Council public hearing noon Monday.

The hearing was necessary prior to the council approving the maximum property tax generated by selected,property tax levies. This was mandated by the 2019 Iowa legislature as part of a “Truth in Taxation” law passed last year.

It requires local governments to pass a resolution if taxing levies will exceed 2 percent of the dollars in the fiscal year budget.

The legislature wanted taxpayers to see how much money the city receives, regardless if the rate changes.

The law applies to Marshalltown’s fiscal year 2021 budget which begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2021.

City Finance Director Diana Steiner said the fiscal year 2021 budget was highlighted by the city requesting less funds for transit and liability insurance than the current 2020 budget.

However, the Marshall County Emergency Management Commission raised their fee 4 percent, from $30,200 to $31,407.

“The Police/Fire Retirement and FICA/IPERS shows an increase in dollars, since both are based on a percentage of gross pay,” Steiner said. “Other employee benefits went down slightly since the city self-insures group health and did not have an increase in premiums. Overall, the increased dollars for the city generated during fiscal year 2021 is $290,752, a 2.47 percent increase.”

Following Steiner’s report the council voted 7-0 to approve the resolution.

It sets the maximum property tax for the affected tax levies for fiscal year 2021 at $12,081,326, based upon a maximum tax rate of $13.35513.

A total of nine line items were impacted, ranging from transit, to liability insurance to police and fire retirement to IPERS.

The resolution required approval of two-thirds majority vote, and must be posted on the city’s website and social media accounts, as well as being submitted to the county auditor.

After Monday’s public hearing, the council can lower the amount but cannot exceed what was published.

The next regular city council meeting is 5:30 p.m. Feb. 24 in council chambers.

Visit the city’s website for the complete agenda packet and to subscribe to agenda notices and department news, wwww.marshalltown-ia.gov.

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Contact Mike Donahey at 641-753-6611 or mdonahey@timesrepublican.com