The Austin City Council met Wednesday night to discuss the city's 2003 budget and there's good news for Austin residents: they probably will see a drop in their property taxes next year.

According to Director of Administrative Services Tom Dankert, the city will most likely have to drop property taxes $85,000 because of a state law which puts a limit on city levies that is based on the community's growth and its current revenue.

In 2003, the city expects to receive $230,000 more in local government aid from the state than it did in 2002. However, because this increase exceeds the rate of inflation, the city is required to cut taxes. Dankert explains this allows the state legislature to "control taxes that are levied on citizens" and prevents communities from raising taxes too much.

Though the city officially will not know the levy limits until the state releases those numbers Sept. 1, Dankert says he received the levy limit base number from the head of the state's property tax division and is "pretty confident that number is accurate. He's been very reliable in the past, his figures have never changed one cent."

The city received the news Wednesday that property taxes would have to be cut $85,000, which meant some emergency "tweaking" had to be done to the proposed budget. To make up the difference, a request from the Park and Recreation Department for $75,000 to replace the four-diamond building at Todd Park was eliminated from the budget. The project will be paid for by the building fund and the funding for other building projects also will probably have to be adjusted slightly.

At the moment, though, the budget is balanced.

Dankert says he and City Administrator Patrick McGarvey met with department heads to discuss their requests for the 2003 budget year. Dankert says not every request could be funded as an additional $700,000 would have been needed, but each department is on tap to receive some of what they wanted.

For example, a 30th police officer, who the Austin Police Department is hoping will be a detective, is budgeted to start April 1, 2003. Jeanne Poppe, 2nd Ward council member suggested the start date be moved to Jan. 1, 2003, because "I would like us to say that is a priority and that we are committed to that."

"If you talk to the police department, you'll realize how much they need another (detective)," 1st Ward Council Member Mickey Jorgenson added.

However, Dankert said the start date of April 1 was chosen based on when the city is scheduled to receive LGA funding.

Wayne Goodnature, a 2nd Ward council member, said that in a state where the average ratio of police officers to residents is 1 to 1,000, "29 makes us a leader.

"I want to see more of what we've given them, more in the prevention process before we add another cop. We're not in any danger with 29. I'm in favor of adding to the investigation department, but I want to see more from the department."

Eventually, the council voted to leave the start date of the 30th police officer at April 1.

Also included in the 2003 budget is the establishment of a Storm Water Management District. According to Dankert, a state mandate says communities the size of Austin must clean up the water in lakes and rivers in their communities in 2003.

The budget includes $100,000 for the project, and the city plans to refund the cost by establishing a "storm water fee" on the utility bills of those in the district. The fee probably would be $1 or $2 a month, which is similar to what most communities have set.

Poppe suggested adding 25 cents to every dollar charged in order to help fund a watershed coordinator. A watershed coordinator is not currently included in the budget but council members liked Poppe's idea.

"The federal government really screwed us over," Goodnature said. "We're paying to dump clean water into crappy water. It's a complete waste of money and effort if we don't hire a watershed coordinator."

Council members agreed to discuss the idea with the county at the September city/county meeting.

The budget will be finalized at the city council's Sept. 2 meeting in order for the city to submit the budget and tax levy limits to the state by Sept. 15.

Amanda L. Rohde can be reached at 434-2214 or by e-mail at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com