Mount Vernon Optic-Herald

The City of Mount Vernon is proposing an almost $.08 cut in property taxes for 2010. That is about an 11.4 percent reduction according to figures provided by the city.
The city is proposing a ad valorem tax rate of $.621476 per $100 of taxable value for 2010. That is down from last year’s rate of $.700776 and this year’s effective rate of $.706567.  This has been made possible in a time when local property values continue to drop and inflation continues to rise because the city is making a multi point approach to the problem, according to Lee Elliott, administrator for the City of Mount Vernon.  The city’s outsourcing of the structural code inspections is cutting about two cents off the tax rate.
The largest cut will be made possible by the city council’s adoption of a Stormwater Utility fee at its September meeting. That utility fee, based at $6 per month for commercial and $3 for residential properties, will reduce six cents from the property taxes. See the Aug. 12 edition of the Mount Vernon Optic-Herald for more information.