$2.93 million tax levy approved
By Robert Cloud
The New London Common Council adopted a $7.276 million budget for 2021.
After thanking the finance director, city administrator and department heads, Finance Committee Chair Dave Morack noted how difficult the budget process has been.
“We had some real challenges this year,” Morack said at the Nov. 10 council meeting. “It’s getting harder every year to come up with a balanced budget as expenses keep going up and we’re limited to the amount of funds we have available.”
Morack said the city had to make some tough decisions.
The city’s 2021 general fund revenues include a $2.93 million tax levy, $850,000 in property tax equivalents (money from the state for publicly held lands), $2.17 million in state shared revenue, $440,000 for service fees, $90,000 in fines and forfeitures, $305,000 in highway aid and $231,000 in library aid.
General fund expenditures for next year include $1.32 million for general government operations, $2.7 million for public safety, $2.07 million for culture and recreation, $942,000 for public works and $218,000 for health and human services.
The budget also includes nearly $678,000 in capital fund revenues that pay for new equipment, construction projects and road improvements.
The city expects $127,000 in wheel tax revenues to pay for road projects in 2021.
New London will levy more than $798,000 for its debt service payments.