The city budget was signed by Mayor Gary McCarthy on Dec. 21 on the City Council's third pass at approving a spending plan after the mayor vetoed its first two proposals, citing concerns with the council's plan to reduce his proposed water and sewer fee increases, among other issues.
When the council passed its final $109 million budget, the board extended the deadline for residents to pay their property taxes from Jan. 15 to Jan. 31, with no penalties or interest for homeowners.
The tax bills were slated to be dispersed following the approval of the 2024 budget, but a software glitch from bill distribution company Tyler Technologies further delayed the mailing of the bills.
McCarthy said on Monday that the property tax bills were delivered to the post office on Friday, with residents expected to receive them in the mail this week.
The bills are traditionally due on Jan. 15, but were slated to be due on Jan. 16 this year due to Jan. 15 falling on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
"It's always been the last week of December, but the budget was late and there was data that needed to be inputted as a result of the budget," McCarthy said on Monday. "Then, Tyler had some issues and it's just been a compound series of events that have slowed it down. That's why the council anticipated some of these things not running as smoothly as we anticipated and they extended it as part of the budget adoption."
The mayor said the two-week extension for residents to pay their tax bills would not have an effect on city operations.
"It won't have any impact on our fiscal position," he said.
Residents can currently pay their property tax bills online. The bills are payable quarterly in January, April, July and October.
"We've had some people come in [to City Hall] to pay them at the end of last week," McCarthy said on Monday.
The council passed its first spending plan proposal of the 2024 budget cycle on Nov. 20, nearly three weeks after the city's Nov. 1 budget deadline. The first budget was subsequently vetoed by McCarthy with the council approving a second plan on Dec. 7, which was also vetoed.
The final 2024 budget was approved by a 4-3 margin on Dec. 21. City Council President Marion Porterfield and Councilmembers John Mootooveren, Damonni Farley and Carl Williams voting yes on the plan and Councilmembers Doreen Ditoro, Carmel Patrick and John Polimeni opposing the budget — the same results as the first two votes.
The budget deal included 100% of McCarthy's proposed water and sewer fees for city residents, with city homeowners to see a $74.20 per year increase in sewer fees and a $16.26 annual hike in water fees.
The first two council budgets reduced the mayor's proposed water and sewer fee increases by half, with the council agreeing to McCarthy's proposed fee boosts in the final spending plan.
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