Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels
Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels 2021 Executive Budget contains a tax decrease and over $6 million for road repair and maintenance.
In presenting his budget to the Council Monday night, Nickels says it was important that taxpayers got some relief.
“Our financial plan called for about a 2% increase in property taxes which solely went to paying off our debt,” Mayor Nickels explained. “But I think it’s more important right now, in the times we live in, to make sure that the citizens don’t have to pay more for the services they get and expect.”
Nickels says he did what he could to allocate funding to repair a portion of Washington Street. “We have 11 miles of connecting highways in the City of Manitowoc,” Nickels told SeehaferNews.com. “Washington street takes up just under 3 miles of that total…I do have in the budget $390,000…to repair South 15th Street to South 18th Street.”
The Mayor’s budget also has $3.3 million allocated for infrastructure for the River Point District (the former CN Peninsula) and another $1.5 million for improvements to the downtown.
The undesignated or “rainy-day fund” remains approximately $5.3 million. The Finance Committee will now go over the spending plan in detail and give Mayor Nickels any recommendations they see fit.
Passage is expected by the Full Council next month.
