Common Council passed next year’s operating budget last night and decided to keep the property tax rate where it is.
The $154 million budget includes money for those big raises the mayor and council are getting…first raises in about 15 years.
The Mayor’s salary and allowances will increase to over $74,000 from $59,000, although Mayor Darling has said he’ll be giving his increase to charity. Councillors get a raise from $19,000 to over $29,000.
Part of the budget will include a special reserve fund of $2 million which will be used to deal with future weather events like major snow storms.