Land OK'd For Storage Units

There was no discussion at the Kimball City Council meeting on Tuesday when the council held two public hearings to rezone a parcel of land from rural residential to C-2 general commercial, and to approve a conditional use permit for storage units on this property.

The land includes 2.591 acres on Kearney Street.

Additional items under current business included the ratification of the new members of the Kimball Volunteer Fire Department, Jim Shoup’s reappointment as the city’s street superintendent for 2025, and the approval of an updated job description for the wastewater treatment plant operator.

The council also received a draft of the 2024-25 budget to review and discuss. The draft’s discussion focused on the general operating fund, property tax, and police and fire services. A growth of .072% was noted, with a total taxable value of $179,808,174, which was up.

City Administrator Annette Brower said that council could consider three options: maintaining the current levy of 0.361572, increasing the levy to allow for a small decrease next year, or maximizing the tax request to provide additional funds for police and fire services.

Option one, maintaining the current levy, allows $516,310 for police, $6,717 for fire maintenance-fire hydrant replacement, and $10,075 for fire equipment.

The second option is to max out the tax request and decrease the levy with no joint hearing needed. The levy would be 0.304531, with a police budget of $530,352.

The third option that the council considered is leaving the levy the same. A max tax request and a joint hearing are required. The police budget would be $629,693.

The budget was tabled until more details on the amount budgeted for the police department could be solidified. According to Mayor John Morrison, the goal is eventually to have seven officers on the force. The goal of five officers for 2024-25 is the option that the mayor wants to look at now.

Morrison also said in his report that he wanted to figure out a way to start replacing streets instead of amour coating streets that aren’t in very good shape.

In reports, both the mayor and the city administrator referred to the power generation project. Dirt work and concrete work are in the future, with crews coming out of Omaha for concrete work with the building for the generators to be delivered in October and constructed in October/November. A Dec. 1 deadline is planned for the building completion, and generators are hoped to be in before winter hits.

The next council meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, a joint City Council and Board of Public Works meeting was held on Aug. 27 to discuss the budget.

The mill levy has steadily decreased from 0.409511 in 2017-18 to the current levy of 0.361573. Although the levy has decreased over the past seven years, property tax valuations increased from $115,879.948 in 2018 to the current valuation of $179,818,174.