Marshall council approves new property tax rate, budget

Published 10:45 pm Friday, October 3, 2025

The Marshall City Council has adopted a slightly higher 2025-26 property tax rate along with a new budget that includes 3% employee raises and significant police department investments.

The new tax rate is 58.15 cents per $100 valuation compared with the 2024-25 tax rate of 57.9 cents.

“This budget will raise more revenue from property taxes than last year’s budget by an amount of $768,357, which is a 9.3% percent increase from last year’s budget,” city officials noted. “The property tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year is $74,840.”

Assistant City Manager Alex Agnor previously said Marshall’s taxable values are up about $125 million this fiscal year — from $1.434 billion to $1.559 billion – which is a big factor in the increased revenue from property taxes.

The council also approved a 2025-26 budget totaling $50.86 million

City Manager Melissa Vossmer noted the 2025-26 budget encompasses a five-year capital improvement plan to address city priorities and needs.

“The FY26 proposed budget has been developed in the context of a five-year financial plan,” she wrote in her address to the mayor and council. “The purpose of this approach is to ensure that decisions made today are financially sustainable in the future.”

Vossmer said investing in the city’s staff continues to be a priority, which is why the new budget includes 3% raises.

“In addition, as another example of investing in our employees, new types of compensation opportunities have been included for those employees that meet the program guidelines,” Vossmer noted. “These include: bilingual pay for front line customer service positions, on-call pay and certification pay for equipment operators.”

Also included in the budget are significant allotments for the police department, including $12,500 for the investment of two new DSL cameras for the crime scene unit and funding for new SWAT gear and replacement of protective equipment.

Vossmer said for the first time in years, the five-year capital improvement program includes a contribution to street maintenance of $600,000 per year.

In addition, $400,000 is part of the capital improvement program to begin implementation of a strategic road map plan to improve the city’s technology.

“Improving the city’s infrastructure requires making significant investments in streets, water, wastewater, fire services, technology, parks and developing a five-year plan to fund major construction projects across the city,” Vossmer previously said.

Following the adoption of the budget, District 5 Councilwoman Reba Godfrey thanked the city staff and city manager for an excellent job on the budget. Vossmer commended the leadership of interim Budget Manager Julie Richards.

“I think, under Julie’s leadership and with support from all the department directors, that it is a very good budget,” Vossmer said.

She expressed her thanks to the council for its guidance as they worked to prepare the budget.

“Your willingness to work with us as we developed this budget, giving us guidance from the very beginning, made it much easier for us to develop a budget that meant what you believe was important to this community, and gave us the groundwork we needed in order to bring you a budget that is well developed,” Vossmer said. “It is what we’re calling the first year of right sizing. … This budget represents thousands and thousands of hours from staff, getting their departments ready, deciding what is appropriate, making sure we meet the council’s areas of focus, running numbers after numbers after numbers. Your confidence in staff in developing this budget and supporting us is very much appreciated, and we will have a good fiscal year ‘26.”

Vossmer noted before during the budget workshops that, as a right-sized budget – scaled to fit the city’s needs – there is no reduction in services.

“With continued investments in our organization, infrastructure and community, I am confident that this budget will position the city of Marshall to be successful in the future,” she said.

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