Route 1 Reporter (https://route1reporter.com/tag/mount-rainier-budget/)
If seen through, the new property tax class would permit City Council to tax small apartment properties at different rates than other classes of real estate in the city, with an eye toward lowering their tax rate below that charged for larger apartment complexes. But the idea has a major policy obstacle to overcome to win the support of City Council members, who otherwise seem in favor of the concept.
Mount Rainier’s budget was boosted by $487,000 found unaccounted for in the city’s bank accounts. For a city with an annual budget of about $7 million, it’s good news in an era when other local governments are bracing for steep declines in tax revenue as a result of the pandemic. Now, city officials are weighing a bill that would use the money for staff pay hikes, facility repairs, and economic development programs.
According to interim city manager Latasha Gatling, the city was unaware it had this money. Gatling provided cursory details of the surprise surplus during a Dec. 1, 2020 City Council discussion of a budget amendment to allocate the windfall.
As Mount Rainier City Council prepares tonight to consider legislation that would cut property tax rates for single-family homes while raising them for multi-family dwellings, one thing has become a matter of fact for Route 1 Reporter: two of the most-prominent justifications for such a scheme are based on unexamined conjecture. At best, they are mere hypotheses.
In a controversial proposal to cut the tax rate for single-family homes in Mount Rainier and raise taxes for apartments, city officials have argued the change is needed to pay for police services they believe are used more-frequently in the city’s densely-built apartment complexes. There’s just one problem: that’s not true.
To fund a tax cut for owners of single-family homes and commercial properties, Mount Rainier City Council wants to raise taxes on apartments and industrial properties.
Mount Rainier has a new financial director in DeMornai Blackwell. He fills a vacancy left by the departure of Kevin Greenville, who tendered his resignation Sept. 6, 2018. The position has been vacant since Oct. 22, 2018.