We support the St. Cloud City Council’s decision to raise the property tax rate instead of dipping into contingency funds in order to support its 2010-11 fiscal year budget. As Councilwoman Mickey Hopper said, the city is “hurting today” because the city lowered its tax rate two years ago when it should have held the line. We also believe the city now has a bare-bones budget and if there is any fat, it hasn’t been pointed out.

While the 21.5 percent millage increase looks large, the boost was needed to balance the budget without any major cuts. The higher tax rate, however, will not result in a corresponding percent increase in tax bills, mainly due to the dramatic drop in property values in the city over the last year. One council member opposed to the rate hike said it would mean $20 more on a homeowner’s tax bill. That is not an unmanageable amount.

While no one likes to pay more property taxes than the previous year when a property’s assessed value went down, the millage increase allows the city to maintain its services at the level residents want.

Overall assessed value in St. Cloud likely will not increase over the next year and could well decline, making next year’s budget-balancing act even more difficult. It’s telling that the Osceola County Property Appraiser, during County Commission hearings on county tax rates and budgets, projected that commercial property values countywide likely would decline due to continued distress in this segment of the real estate market and the slow economic recovery. On the positive side, the appraiser said residential property values were stabilizing.

On another issue and as we approach Election Day, we urge candidates unfamiliar with the details of city government and its various agencies to get their facts straight before putting out statements regarding council decisions. Candidate Eric Dolhon, running for seat 3, sent out a press release suggesting that the $20,000 the city earmarked for the Main Street program from the Community Development Agency budget was money that would stay with the agency because they were the “same thing.” That was incorrect.

While both the agency and Main Street help redevelop and sustain the city, Main Street is a nonprofit organization that focuses on the downtown area, while the agency is a public entity that focuses on areas that are in need of rehabilitation.

Also, money from the agency cannot go toward city general fund expenses, as Dolhon suggested.