The Budget for 2020

Last night, at a special meeting of the Common Council, Mayor Rick Rector presented the proposed budget for 2020. The total expenditures are $11,945,838--an increase of 2.28 percent from last year. Rector reminded the Council and those members of the public present that, despite the state imposed tax cap of 2 percent, the allowable tax cap is determined by a complex, multi-step calculation. Last year the maximum allowed increase for Hudson was 7.5 percent, and the actual increase was 3 percent. This year the maximum allowed increase is 3.8 percent, and the actual increase proposed is 2.28 percent. It is predicted that the mill rate, the figure that represents the amount tax levied per $1,000 of the assessed value of the property, will be 7.55 for 2020. The 7.55 mill rate was described as "not official but a very good guess." The mill rate in 2019 was 12.96.

Rector reviewed the annual expenses over which the Board of Estimate and Apportionment has no control: health insurance, wages, and workers compensation, all of which would see increases. He also outlined the anticipated increases in revenue sources: a 21.4 percent increase in revenue from the lodging tax, or $60,000; a 11.8 percent increase in revenue from sales tax, or $200,000; a 17.2 percent increase in revenue from parking, or $25,000; a 11.1 percent increase in parking fines, or $35,000.

Proposed budgets for the four most costly departments, in descending order, are:

• Police Department  $3,007,421--a 2.2 percent decrease from 2019
• Department of Public Works  $1,978,687--a 3.9 percent increase from 2019
• Youth Department  $580,150--a 7.3 percent increase from 2019
• Fire Department  $243,000--a 2.9 percent increase from 2019

Rector's budget message can be viewed here. The proposed 2020 budget can be viewed here. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled to take place on Monday, November 18, at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. The Common Council is expected to act on the budget at a special meeting on Tuesday, November 19, at 6:30 p.m., just prior to its regular November meeting.
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