The Aurora City Council is scheduled to pass its budget this week, but first its members must get over differences on how to finance it. One proposal calls for tax increases that would raise enough revenue to restore part of $3.5 million in proposed cuts. One of those possible increases would be a 5-cent hike in the property tax rate, which would cost about $20 for the owner of a home with a market value of $120,000 and would come on top of about a 3 percent increase in assessed valuations that will generate another $20 increase. The property-tax hike would raise $780,000. Another measure on the agenda is a 3 percent tax on electricity and gas use, which would raise $2 million. The city would provide rebates for seniors and the disabled. Other homeowners could expect to pay $45 to $60 a year if the tax is enacted. Mayor David Stover has proposed $3.5 million in cuts that would make the tax increases unnecessary and level 1998 spending at $155.5 million, but aldermen balked at some of those cuts.
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7 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall, 44 E. Downer Pl., Aurora.
