St. Joseph Sets Preliminary Budget for 2020

ST. JOSEPH -- After tabling the decision over the span of several meetings, the St. Joseph City Council has approved a preliminary budget for 2020.

At a special meeting following a work session Monday night, the council unanimously approved an operating levy of $2.6 million.

That's about 13 percent higher than last year's operating levy, but significantly lower than was originally expected.

During the work session, the council opted to pull two full-time positions — one for a community service officer and another for a city recreation director — out of the budget in order to cut costs.

The council also decided to delay hiring a new full-time city maintenance worker until next May.

St. Joseph's tax rate will increase one percent to 61 percent in 2020.