A Special Service Area (SSA) tax for property owners on the Public Square in Downtown Monmouth based on the linear footage of their building to care for lawn mowing, landscaping, and snow removal is up for a vote with the Monmouth City Council. Warren County Buildings and Grounds Chair Sean Cavanaugh, breaks down the County’s assistance to the City of Monmouth on this proposed Special Service Area tax, which is designated to a section of a city, village, or county that levies an additional tax on properties to fund specific, supplemental services or improvements within an area:
“The Special Service Area tax is something that the City would create within a certain district. Within that district downtown, the property owners would have based on the linear footage of their storefronts and sides if it runs along a sidewalk, they would be assessed a tax and that will fund all the snow removal, landscaping, and so forth for every square inch of the square. The County, we did not vote to raise anyone’s taxes, it is a City operation. What the County did, if the City Council were to approve the Special Service Area tax, then the County would be willing to pay up to $15,000 to lessen the burden of that tax on the property owners within that area. We would pay up to $15,000, and the City would also commit to paying that amount. We would match what the City pays up to that amount, which would then lessen the burden of that tax that the City Council would be voting on.”
The proposed contract for lawn mowing, landscaping, and snow removal on the Public Square, which has yet to be approved by the Monmouth City Council, is $70,000 over a four-year period with McVey Landscaping.
