Marksville Council reduces loan application to $500,000

Marksville will only ask for a $500,000 line-of-credit instead of credit line of over $1 million, the City Council decided in a special meeting on July 15.

City Secretary/Treasurer Craig Cottrell said the request for that loan will be presented to the state Bond Commission after the Aug. 15 election to restore a lapsed 1-cent sales tax to pay for the general operation of all city departments.

"I think we can get by with the $500,000," Cottrell said. "I am hoping we won't have to use all of that."

At its regular meeting on July 8, the council also discussed the importance of the tax and the dire consequences if it fails.

"A lot of services would be cut," Cottrell said. "We would have to lay off people. The city might have to raise water bills to generate revenue to operate."

Marksville residents who shop in the city would have to pay the sales tax, "but they would also benefit from the services provided by that tax," Cottrell said. "People outside of Marksville who shop here would pay that 1-cent tax to pay for the services provided to Marksville citizens."

Cottrell said the city is facing a financial shortfall, which it postponed with unpaid furloughs for most city employees and a 10 percent across the board pay cut for Fire Department personnel. City officials will "know better where we stand" after the Aug. 15 election, he said.

If the tax is defeated, city officials would have to determine whether it would be feasible to incur debt to pay for salaries and services when there is no revenue source to pay for those services and repay the loan.

In another matter at the July 15 meeting, the council discussed the effect of employee furloughs on grass cutting operations in the city.

One aspect of that issue deals with Marksville's agreement with the state to cut grass along almost nine miles of state highways within the corporate limits. The responsibility to keep up maintenance on city properties and along 26 miles of municipal streets was also discussed.

"We will keep up with as much as we can," Cottrell said. "Maybe after the tax passes we can get back on our feet and get rolling again."

The council also set the property tax millage for the next year at 7.15 mills. The rate is the same as was collected for this year.

The rate was adjusted to 7.09 mills due to the readjustment of property values conducted by the Assessor's Office every four years. The reduction in rate means that 7.09 mills this tax year will bring in the same amount of tax revenues as 7.15 did last year. State law allows a taxing authority to "roll forward" to the previous rate with a two-thirds majority of the governing board.

There was some economic good news at the July 8 meeting. The council approved three new occupational permits:Milk and Honey Photography, Dean Family Enterprise Donut Shop and One Stop Gas Mart -- the former Spirit gas station