[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:43] Hello, hello.
[3:22] Deletra, did Mayor talk to you about the reading the ordinance? Yes, she did. Thank you so much. I got it. Okay, tonight. So you need me. I'm here. But if not, just let me know how you all want to proceed. Okay. Sounds good. Thank you so much.
[3:49] Hi, Mike. How are you?
[3:50] I mean, yes, I can do to see you.
[4:01] Hey, Mike, how are you doing?
[4:04] You hear me? Don't hear you now, Mike.
[4:11] See, I don't know.
[4:14] It's okay.
[4:19] Yeah.
[4:23] How about
[4:34] now? Yeah. Now, you know, now, now,
[4:38] Yes. I muted myself and turned myself on back up, so I turned off turned on.
[4:43] I guess it's working. Okay.
[4:45] sounds good. Yep and so Mike in a few minutes we're gonna open it up for the
[4:52] public hearing and I just turn over to you. I've got another call at 615 so it's
[5:00] okay if I drop off after that. Yeah we are we are also we're stopping at 615
[5:05] and I'm gonna open it up and try to be okay. All right. All the woman Monica how
[5:13] you doing? Doing fine. Can you hear it? Okay. I can hear well. How about how about you?
[5:20] I can hear it. I can hear it. Okay. All right.
[5:24] Hold them and fill up. Welcome. How are you? Yeah. I'll come on.
[5:31] Just
[5:43] a task. Can you still hear me?
[5:47] We can. Yeah. Yeah.
[5:51] And you love this time of the year when you have these meetings back to back.
[5:55] No, I was I was plugging in tax rates right before you I called you guys.
[6:00] Well, you're better than some clients. Yeah, they're, uh, other ones are more difficult.
[6:06] And might you have two more meetings tonight after us?
[6:10] Well, one of them we got moved, but, uh, yeah, it's, uh, yeah, I got one more after this.
[6:15] But they both happened to be right at 6, 6, 15, yeah.
[6:19] Right. We
[6:24] got one minute.
[6:25] They were open.
[6:31] Which wasn't better.
[6:33] That or that?
[6:36] The second one, right?
[6:39] The second one.
[6:39] Yeah.
[6:41] You sound like my doctor.
[6:45] Okay, six o'clock and we will open up this public hearing to discuss the 2026 property tax rate.
[6:57] And then I'm going to turn it over to Mike.
[7:01] I want to extend appreciation for putting together the numbers for us.
[7:08] Yeah, appreciate it, Mayor.
[7:11] Let's see, I've sent out the, I believe you've got a copy of the property tax rate calculations.
[7:16] I have a copy of it in front of me on my other screen here.
[7:19] So I was going to review a few things on it.
[7:22] There's a page related to the tax rates.
[7:26] It's the residential rate this year would be 45.5 cents, agriculture is zero, commercial
[7:33] is 47.9, and personal property is 79 cents even compared to last year that's up a little
[7:41] over two cents for residential, for commercial looks like it's up a little over two cents,
[7:47] and there's no change for the other two categories.
[7:50] So, two cents isn't very much, but the reason for that is because we get these numbers from the county assessor.
[8:02] So, they provide the rate assessments.
[8:06] Oh, at the beginning of September, usually about mid-September.
[8:10] And so, we have to wait for those. That's one of the reasons, I guess, why we're here near the end of September, kind of near the due date.
[8:17] is because we're always waiting for the county to come up with the final assess
[8:20] valuation. And then we get those and then we plug these numbers into a calculator,
[8:27] get the review it with the state auditor, and then get them to you guys. So the
[8:33] assess valuations then for this year, around 5.4 million for residential, 2.2
[8:40] million for commercial, personal property, around 2.8 million, and a total
[8:45] assessment evaluation of the 10 million 574. So overall, last year, the assessed
[8:51] evaluations around 10 million 803. So that's down some. And so when your assessed
[8:56] evaluation goes down, your tax rates go up a little bit. So that's why there's
[9:02] some increase in the rate or two cents. So anyway, those are the rates that's
[9:08] assessed valuation and kind of the timeline. And I'll be happy to take any
[9:12] questions or other thoughts on that.
[9:15] All right, Mike.
[9:16] Thank you.
[9:16] Appreciate you going through that.
[9:18] And so now we will open it up for questions.
[9:21] So anyone on the board have any questions?
[9:27] I do not.
[9:30] Neither do I.
[9:31] OK.
[9:33] I'd say overall the rates are relatively
[9:35] consistent with the prior year.
[9:36] So there's no big surprises here.
[9:40] And check in the see if there are any residents on that have any questions.
[9:55] Madam Clerk, do you see any?
[10:00] Oh, you're muted.
[10:04] I see a Samsung phone.
[10:08] I don't know if that's a resident or one of our board members.
[10:12] or so.
[10:18] Oh, is that Alderman Hopkins? Yes. Yes. Okay. Okay. Alderman Hopkins,
[10:28] you are muted
[10:35] as well. Okay. I'm trying to honey me. Yeah. Okay. You're more successful. There is.
[10:42] Mayor,
[10:53] I don't see any other members of the public present at this time.
[10:59] Okay.
[11:06] Well,
[11:09] if there's no, I know we're concluding this public here in at 615, but if there's no
[11:17] other questions for Mike, we can let Mike drop off and get ready for the next one or unless
[11:26] So Mike, before you drop off any other, just one other thing, I was going to say on the delivery, it needs to be.
[11:35] There's a certification section on the bottom of the first page that I emailed in like last year, it's same as last year, but somebody from.
[11:42] The city signs it and then gets it to the collector's office and marked the board is not there anymore, so there's a new person into collector and a contact.
[11:51] So if you need that information, please let me know, or I could go ahead and email it to you.
[11:57] The Kelia board, Bordeaux is her name or something like that.
[12:01] So anyway, if you need that, just let me know, and I'll be happy to send that over.
[12:06] I have it, Mike. Thank you so much.
[12:08] Okay. Sure. All right. Well, I appreciate it.
[12:11] If you ever do have any questions, feel free to let me know.
[12:15] Okay. All right. Thanks, Mike.
[12:16] Appreciate it. Thanks, Mayor. Okay.
[12:18] Thank you. Thank you.
[12:19] All right. Bye. We
[12:30] have 10 minutes until we can make a pizza or something.
[12:39] Hey, that would be, that would be nice right now because my stomach is growling. We're trying to figure out
[12:47] what's within at a night. So hey, I'm a step away from the phone for a minute, but I'll stay on. I'll stay on.
[12:53] Okay. Okay.
[17:53] I accidentally got off for a minute, I think. No, we can hear you.
[18:00] All right.
[18:08] So we just saw the inquire, none to talk about.
[18:17] You can start.
[18:22] That'll change
[18:24] and four minutes. I got four minutes on it.
[18:34] It's rough. Oh, man.
[18:42] Jim, can you go to the door and get some stuff from Carol?
[18:50] Right now, yeah, she's already knocking on the door.
[21:44] On our close, the public hearing,
[21:48] to discuss the 2026 property tax rate at 615 and now I call to order the special meeting
[22:01] of the board to discuss and approve the 2026 property tax rate at 615.
[22:12] can we get a roll call. Alderman Hopkins. Here. Alderman NAP. Alderman NAP. Absent.
[22:24] Alderman Ponyka. Here. Alderman Phillip. Here. You have a call. Okay. All right. Now I like to get
[22:34] approval to approve the agenda is written. I make a motion that we approve the agenda as
[22:41] written? All in the Hopkins made a motion to approve agenda is written is our
[22:45] second. Seconded by Aldman Philip. Any discussion? Okay. Here are none all in favor.
[22:57] All right. Any opposed?
[23:04] All right. Hearing none. When I move into new business, our item on
[23:08] tonight is the approval of bill number 26-04 to become ordinance number 782 and this is an
[23:17] ordinance approving the 2026 property tax rate. So I asked for a motion for the first reading
[23:26] of bill number 26-04 to become ordinance number 782. I make a motion to for the first
[23:37] reading of bill number 2602 to become ordinance 0-4 0-4 to become ordinance. I don't have
[23:51] it. What's the ordinance number 782 782 okay on the Hopkins made a motion for the first reading
[24:00] for bill number 26-04 to become ordinance number 7-82. Is there a second? Second. Second by
[24:11] all the woman and Monica in the discussion.
[24:16] Okay. Here and none. All in favor for the first reading?
[24:20] Aye. Aye. Okay. Any opposed?
[24:26] Okay. Here and none. Madam Clerk, can we have the first reading please?
[24:30] and ordinance of the City of Berry Fakers ordering the levying and establishing the rate of a
[24:38] municipal taxes for municipal purposes to be collected for the year of 2026.
[24:47] All right so you've
[24:48] heard the first reading now asked for a motion for the second reading of bill number 26-04 to become
[24:59] ordinance number seven eighty two. I make a motion for the second reading of bill ordinance number
[25:09] twenty six dash zero four to become bill number seven eighty two. All right, all the woman
[25:16] Ponyka has made a motion for the second reading of bill number twenty six dash zero four to become
[25:23] ordinance number 782, is there a second?
[25:28] Okay.
[25:32] Okay, seconded by all in my heart.
[25:37] Okay, any discussion?
[25:42] Okay, hearing none.
[25:43] All in favor?
[25:44] What a second reading.
[25:47] Aye.
[25:47] Aye.
[25:52] All right.
[25:53] Any opposed?
[25:55] Okay. Hearing none, Madam Clerk. Can we have a second reading, please?
[26:00] In ordinance of the City of Bell, we have acres ordering the levying and establishing
[26:05] the rate of the municipal taxes for the municipal purposes to be collected for the year
[26:12] of 2026. All right. Thank you, Madam Clerk, for the second reading. Now I ask for a motion
[26:19] for the approval of bill number 26-04 to become Ortenance Number 782.
[26:30] I make a motion that we approve bill number 26-04 to become Ortenance Number 782.
[26:38] On the hotness made a motion to approve bill number 26-04 to become Ortenance Number 782.
[26:49] Is there a second?
[26:54] Second. Second by Alderman Philip. Any discussion?
[27:02] Hearing none.
[27:03] Madam Clerk, can we have a roll call please?
[27:06] Alderman Hopkins. Yes. Alderman Namp. Alderman Namp is absent. Alderman Ponyka. Yes.
[27:17] Alderman Philip. Yes. Motion carries.
[27:21] Okay. Thank you all. Appreciate the board for approving the 2026 property tax rate.
[27:31] I will sign the necessary documents and then our city clerk Hudson will get those documents
[27:38] turned in and we will have everything in by the deadline. Now I ask for a motion to adjourn this meeting.
[27:47] I make a motion to adjourn this meeting.
[27:52] All to one, Pontic has made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
[27:55] Here's our second.
[27:57] Second.
[27:58] Second by Alden Philip.
[28:00] Any discussion?
[28:04] Hearing none, all in favor?
[28:06] Aye.
[28:08] Aye.
[28:10] Any opposed?
[28:14] All right.
[28:14] This meeting is adjourned at 621.
[28:19] Okay. Thank you. Thank you everybody.
[28:22] All right now.