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<br />TUESDAY <br /> <br />JUNE 24, 1975 <br /> <br />Council adopt a $1.85 real estate tax rate and approve a 5% across-the-board <br /> <br />.- <br /> <br />salary-wage increase, with necessary adjustments to proposed capital outlay <br /> <br />expenditures. This motion received no second and, therefore, no action was <br /> <br />taken thereon. Councilman Fitz-Hugh then offered the following motion, <br /> <br />seconded by Vice-Mayor Hobson, that the proposed 1975-76 City Budget, <br /> <br />including revisions thereto heretofore approved, be adopted, predicated on the <br /> <br />following additional revisions and adjustments: <br />(a) a tax rate of $1.85 on real estate and public service corporations; <br />(b) a tax rate of $1.85 on machinery and tools; <br />(c) a tax rate of $2.25 on personal property; <br />(d) an across-the-board salary-wage increase of 4%; and <br />(e) necessary reV1Slons or reductions in proposed capital outlay (i.e., <br />community development and/or "CBD") expenditures to accommodate <br />the foregoing. <br /> <br />In the ensuing discussion of the motion, Councilman Greene indicated favoring <br /> <br />the approval of the budget as proposed and revised by the City's administration, <br /> <br />which--based on a $l.90 real estate tax rate--would ensure a continuation of the <br /> <br />City's high level of services and, also, provide for more capital expenditures <br /> <br />from Revenue-Sharing funds, meanwhile pointing out that, even with some tax <br /> <br />category increases in recent years, the City has "lived above its head" and a <br /> <br />necessary reckoning therewith should be made. Mayor Boaz, adhering to his <br /> <br />statement included hereinbefore, expressed the opinion that passage of the <br /> <br />motion (Councilman Fitz-Hugh's) might preclude the possibility of providing more <br /> <br />assistance (through tax relief) for the elderly citizens. Assistant City Manager- <br /> <br />Public Works Director George W. Brown, subsequent to action on the budget-adoption <br /> <br />motion, briefly described the City's pay classification plan and the built-in <br /> <br />cost-of-living escalation clause therein, suggesting that non-adherence thereto <br /> <br />could adversely affect the credibility of the plan and, in turn, the morale of <br /> <br />City employees. By a recorded vote (with Councilmen Fitz-Hugh and Lester and <br />