The Hillsboro City Council approved the 2015-2016 budget and property tax levy at its regular monthly meeting Monday night.

The resolution was passed after a required public hearing. The proposed budget had been legally published and available for inspection in detail.

The property tax levy will be set at $450,760, which reflects a .42%/$1,871 increase over last year and is required to finance in part, the 2016 annual budget.

In another unanimous decision, the Council approved a resolution allowing special charges to property tax bills.

A case in point involved a condemned two-story building on Water Ave., owned by Horst Josellis, that formerly housed a German restaurant he owned and operated. The charges dealt with the costs of an inspection.

Josellis attended the public hearing and presented his opposition case to the Council, after which it was rejected by a unanimous vote.

In other business, the Council unanimously approved the appointment of Sandi Sebranek to the Hillsboro Public Library Board.

The Council also unanimously approved:

• A Vernon County lot transfer;

• A resolution pertaining to 2016 user, license, and permit fees;

• A resolution on employee health reimbursement arrangement funding;

• Action on an operators’ license.

Before the meeting was adjourned, Mayor Greg Kubarski announced that a Downtown Revitalization Plan Public Meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 19. The public is invited to attend the meeting.

In addition, the City has a job opening for a laborer in the Streets Department. Anyone interested in applying for the position should call 489-2521 or email admin@hillsborowi.com for more information. Applications are due Dec. 3.

UPDATE: This article has been amended to correct an error on the reporter's part.

The levy will increase .42%, not 42%. Hillsboro's mil rate will decrease, which the reporter failed to note in his article.

“The tax levy is extremely important to our taxpayers and an error like this makes the city look extremely bad when we are working very hard to keep taxes affordable,” City Administrator Adam Sonntag wrote in an email to the Sentry Enterprise.

An error like this makes both the newspaper and its editor look extremely bad, as well. Editors and readers both trust reporters to get their facts straight. Clearly, this represents a major breach of that trust, which will be dealt with.

Needless to say, a correction will appear in the print edition Nov. 26.

The Sentry Enterprise regrets the error.