The City of Kalona has set February 1st for a public hearing on their proposed property tax levy for fiscal year 2022.

City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says the tax, known as the maximum levy, helps generate the amount of money needed to fund the city’s general government. He says Kalona residents will not be asked for a tax increase, “We’re at $8.76 per $1,000 valuation for our general government to operate and then the budget gets set off of that number, plus our debt service.  So, what we proposed to the council was that we have a tax levy equal to what we had for fiscal year 2021. We’re not looking to increase anything, we believe we can hold the line and our revenues have stayed fairly consistent, so we feel comfortable we can propose a budget that’s very similar to what we’ll be asking the public for.”

Schlabaugh says the maximum levy generates a little over a million dollars annually for the city, but this year’s figure will be about $50-60,000 higher. He says that’s a result of city growth and an increase in property valuation.