Lower property taxes and higher water bills. A breakdown of Coralville's new budget:

Coralville residents can expect to pay slightly less in property taxes and a bit more for water after the city finalized its budget for the next fiscal year, increasing the total general fund by 7.5%.

The Coralville City Council unanimously approved the Fiscal 2025 budget on Tuesday, April 23, finalizing a slight tax levy increase coupled with a statewide 8.3% reduction in residential property tax.

The newest number means Coralville's budget has increased for the fourth straight year.

The general fund revenues and expenditures for the Fiscal 2025 budget increased by about $2.3 million to a total of $33.2 million. For the current fiscal year, the budget was approved at $30.9 million. In Fiscal 2023, it was $29.5 million and in Fiscal 2022, it was set at $28 million.

Fiscal 2025 begins July 1 and runs through June 30, 2025.

The primary goal of Coralville’s annual budget is to maintain the property tax levy rate “when possible,” fund infrastructure projects, provide “high-quality” city services, and “enhance the quality of life” in Coralville.

The 2024-2025 budget reflects a rise in city-wide premiums for property and casualty insurance as well as worker’s compensation insurance.

The city will use next year’s budget to replace the public laptops at the Coralville Public Library and make new hires in the engineering and sewer departments, among other expenditures.

Here is a list of the largest revenues and expenditures for the city in its Fiscal 2025 budget.

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Coralville's revenue sources

• Property taxes and excise taxes — 42%

• Other financing sources — 19%

• Charges for services — 14%

• Hotel and Motel Tax — 11%

Where the city spends its money

• Parks & Recreation — 28%

• Police and Fire Departments and Animal Control Services — 23%

• Coralville Public Library, Museums and "Other Culture" — 11%

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Property tax payments decreasing despite levy hike

In simple terms, while the city increased the tax levy — the tax amount per $1,000 of the property’s assessed value — by 24 cents, residents across the area will see a reduction in the total amount due on their property taxes.

Coralville Finance Director Ann Hester used a home assessed at $100,000 as an example.

In years past, the city could tax roughly 54% of that total assessed value of $100,000 at the tax levy rate that it chooses ahead of budget approval each spring. In Fiscal 2025, the city may now only tax 46.34% of the property value.

For residential property owners in Coralville, the levy was increased from $14.31 to $14.55 per $1,000 of a property’s taxable assessed value, amounting to an increase of about 1.7%. But because that taxable assessed value has decreased more than the levy has increased, property owners will pay less.

For that hypothetical $100,000 home, the property owner will save $107.87 on property taxes in the coming year.

Coralville’s levy hike mirrored Iowa City’s 55-cent increase approved last week.

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Legislative rollbacks impact budget

Although the reduction in taxable value across the state lowered payments for individual homeowners, it also forced cities like Coralville to lower their budgets by one or two percent. The slight budget drop was because many cities couldn't use as much property tax revenue as initially hoped.

In Coralville, that required the city to trim $500,00 from the preliminary budget.

“I’m guessing we could have kept levy rates the same,” if not for the reduction in taxable value out of the legislature, Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth said.

Most notably, the city experienced a 40% increase in its insurance premiums over the past year and “would have had more dollars to pay for insurance in the existing levy” if the taxable value amount had not decreased, Hayworth said.

Coralville’s tax rate amounts to almost 40% of residents' total property taxes. Families with children in the Iowa City Community School District will also pay $16.05 per $1,000 to the district, $6.06 per $1,000 to the county, and comparatively minute percentages to Kirkwood Community College, the assessor, and the state.

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A small increase will hit water bills

Water prices will also increase by roughly 5.5% for the coming fiscal year.

The first 200 cubic feet of water will increase in cost from $7.85 to $8.29. Each additional 100 cubic feet of water will then cost $2.14, up 11 cents from the current fiscal year.

This means that currently, 1,000 cubic feet of water will pull $24.09 from a resident’s wallet. Beginning July 1, that same amount will rise to $25.41.

The water bill hike is one-third of “several” increases implemented in the past few years, Hester said.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at rhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Coralville raises annual operating budget by $2.3 million