For the last several weeks, the Okeechobee City Council has been working on the city’s budget.
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The proposed budget uses a millage rate of 6.1602. One mill equals $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of taxable property value.
Finance Director India Reidel explained some of the changes. These include a reduction in the estimated fuel costs by .25 and an increase of $8,500 for animal control. They also removed some capital project improvements from the coming year’s budget. These were projects they were not sure they would have time to get to this year anyway.
City Administrator Gary Ritter was able to share the good news that the city received reimbursements from the state for Cattleman’s Square and for the kayak ramp in the amount of $250,000.
In addition, he said the Okeechobee Chamber of Commerce Leadership group has taking on some responsibility for Veterans’ Park and has been able to raise some donations for some things pertaining to the moving of the helicopter and some of the other things in the park. “That is truly good news,” said Mayor Dowling Watford.
Couniclman Bob Jarriel asked if they could add $200,000 into the paving fund, because there is a lot of need for that in the city.
Ritter said there was already more than $1 million in that fund, and they are working on getting grants for that. He added that they could possibly use funds from the American Recovery Fund. He also said they need to keep in mind the amount of work they can actually do in one year. “We’ve got a giant elephant out there, and we have to take one bite at a time.”
The budget will be voted on at the next meeting.
To see the proposed budget, visit the city's website or click here proposed budget