Council Orders Street Lighting Tax Cut
Many costs, including gasoline prices, may be going up, but residents will have at least one tax decrease this year. The citywide tax for landscaping and lighting will be almost 9% lower for homeowners and 5% lower for businesses.
City Councilman Wally Linn said the decrease is something to cheer about.
“When we have a chance to recognize a tax decrease, we should do it,” he said. “Homeowners are going to save about $7 per parcel in our city, and that’s good news.”
The City Council announced the decrease Tuesday. It will take effect July 1, the start of the fiscal year. Each homeowner will pay $71.44 annually, compared with $78.40 for the current year. Owners of commercial property will pay $369.94 an acre, down from $392.10.
In a report to the council, Public Works Director Ismile Noorbaksh said that, by converting existing street lights from mercury vapor to high-pressure sodium vapor, the city “can deliver equivalent illumination and may present a savings in electric energy consumption.”
That conversion will be the basis for the lower assessment for lighting, officials said.
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