Wednesday evening the Jasper City Council conducted a series of public hearings followed by the approval of resolutions and ordinances related to those hearings. The 4 public hearing topics varied from approving a Resolution of a tax abatement for real estate property concerning Empire Enterprises LLC and Vine Street Lofts LLC, to and ordinance that vacates a public utility and drainage easement in Brookstone Estate III.
Next an ordinance received approval that allows for additional money to be allocated to the city for the remainder of the 2016 fiscal year and lastly two additional ordinances that appropriates funds for the the city’s 2017 budget and one that levies taxes and fixes the rate of taxation for the city for the fiscal year ending December, 31st 2017.
Councilwomen Nancy Eckerle expressed her concern in regards to the budget process and suggested that having a third meeting this time around would have helped to reevaluate decisions from the second so that all figures correlated with each other and that all council members came to a total agreement on the results presented at Wednesday night’s meeting. Councilmen John Bell however noted that perhaps the council does not need a third session and that 2 days was appropriate. He says the council just needs have more clarification and that there is room for improvement where at the end of the day they could debrief and summarize what went well and what to use for the following year’s budget process.Mayor Terry Seitz expressed his appreciation to the council and clerk treasurer office for their dedicated time and professionalism during this year’s budget session.
