The City of Plymouth may be increasing fees to make up for money it can’t raise in property taxes. During the city council’s budget discussion Monday, Clerk-Treasurer Jeanine Xaver said the 2021 budget proposal currently calls for an $8.7 million General Fund. But the amount of revenue is expected to fall far short of that.
Xaver blames a large part of that on the state’s property tax caps. She said Plymouth is expecting to lose $1.4 million to the tax caps next year. To help offset those losses, city officials have been moving some expenses out of the General Fund and into other places in the budget.
Now, the clerk-treasurer is also asking the city council to add a fire hydrant fee of three to four dollars a month, which is estimated to bring in about $238,000 a year. She also suggested increasing the stormwater fee, to bring in another $180,000.
Xaver stressed that the fees wouldn’t give the city more money to spend on water and sewers, but would simply let the money come from a different place. That, in turn, would ease the strain on the General Fund. Council members agreed to let accounting firm Baker Tilley proceed with drafting ordinances for further consideration.
Plymouth isn’t planning to give any raises to its employees in 2021, other than the longevity-based increases already included in the salary ordinance.
