By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

GALENA, Kan. — Property owners in Galena will see a reduced property tax bill next year from the city.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a $3 million budget for 2010 with higher spending but a reduced property tax rate. The owner of a $100,000 home in Galena would see city property taxes reduced by more than $100.

Mayor Dale Oglesby said the council was mindful that the economy is difficult for Galena residents, and council members wanted to try to make things easier for them.

The property tax rate to support the 2010 budget is 37.658 mills, down from 47.629 mills this year.

The owner of a house in Galena with a $100,000 market value would pay property taxes of $433.07 to support the 2010 budget. The homeowner this year paid $547.73 in property taxes to support the city budget. The figures don’t include county, school district or state property taxes.

The $3 million in spending represents a nearly 15 percent increase from projected spending of $2.6 million this year. Oglesby said the town can accomplish that with a property tax reduction because sales tax revenues are up and there is money in the general fund that can be carried over to next year.

Galena has collected $116,058 in sales tax revenues since January, up nearly 7 percent from $108,641 for the same period last year, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue. Oglesby has attributed the increase to Joplin, Mo., residents stopping in Galena on the way to Downstream Casino Resort, to construction traffic at the site of the Orthopaedic Specialists of the Four States building, and to a new Chinese restaurant.

No one commented during the public hearing on the budget.

In other business, Oglesby said, the council completed a loan agreement with the state for a $165,000 infrastructure project to extend a city waterline to the new Orthopaedic Specialists of the Four States building on the state line. The $8 million medical office and surgical center is expected to open in January.

Oglesby said engineering on the project has been completed.

“Our intention is to fast-track the project,” he said. “We don’t want city infrastructure issues to stand in the way of a timely opening of the facility.”

Waterline project