PORT ANGELES — The city’s proposed $105.8 million 2006 budget has the lowest property tax rate in 20 years and adds almost six new positions, including a code compliance officer, parks caretaker and dedicated downtown police officer.
The budget also contains more than $24 million for capital projects that include the Eighth Street bridges replacement project and the Port Angeles International Gateway Transportation Center.
But the budget relies on $7.3 million in reserve funds, almost 7 percent of the total budget.
The City Council will accept comment on the 2006 budget during a hearing set for 7 p.m. Dec. 6 in the council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
$3.34 estimated tax rate
The city’s estimated 2006 property tax rate will be $3.34 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, said City Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski.
It is the lowest property tax rate in 10 years and the lowest rate in 20 years when special tax levies are included, she said.
It will save the owner of a $150,000 home $36 compared to the tax rate in 2005.
The projected $3.34 property tax rate includes $2.80 for the regular levy and 54 cents for special levies approved by voters.
It will cost the owner of a $150,000 home $501 per year, down from $537 in 2005.
Special levies total $670,713, including $273,900 for a 2005 bond issue to pay off debt for the Port Angeles library building and $386,813 to pay off debt for the senior center and fire station.
The special levy total also includes a $10,000 refund levy to Daishowa, which is now Nippon Paper Industries USA Co. Ltd.
The refund levy is part of a 2002 court settlement for overvaluation of the company’s property during the 1990s.
The regular property tax rate of $2.80 per $1,000 is an estimate because Ziomkowski still is awaiting final new construction figures from the county Assessor’s Office.