The actual amount you pay in taxes is determined by the budget needs of the city. The Mayor and City Council adopt a budget that reflects the funds to be raised through the levy and additional funds from other sources such as state and local receipts. A tax rate is adopted that will generate the dollars needed to satisfy the budget.

Levy Information
The amount to be collected from the property tax (called the "levy") is divided among the local taxpayers in proportion to the value of their property.

1. The assessors must prepare a document that shows how much of the value and how much of the proposed levy would come from each of the different classes of property, such as:
   • Commercial
   • Industrial
   • Open space
   • Personal
   • Residential
2. The assessors provide this document to the City Council who must then vote at a public hearing called the Classification Hearing on whether to apply the same tax rate or separate tax rates to the different property classes.
3. Assessors prepare a "recapitulation sheet" that lists all the different sources of revenue available to the community in the coming year.
4. The assessors then submit the "recap sheet" to the Department of Revenue and request certification of the tax rate.
5. The Department of Revenue certifies the tax rate.
6. The tax bills can be mailed.