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1. What is a fiscal year?

A fiscal year is a 12-month operating cycle that comprises a budget and financial reporting period. The City of Madison’s fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.

2. What is the budget?

A budget is a financial plan for a city. It includes both estimates of resources available, including revenues and fund balance, and appropriations (the authority to spend money for specific purposes). The budget document is prepared to provide information about the city, both financial information and operational / policy information from a variety of perspectives and degrees of detail.

3. What is a millage rate?

A millage rate is a number, sometimes referred to as a multiplier. It is the number multiplied by the value of your property to calculate your property tax bill (please note: property value is determined by Morgan County). One mill is $1 of tax on every $1,000 of taxable property value. When the city adopts its annual budget, it determines the minimum millage rate neccessary to multiply against the entire tax base (value of all taxable properties in the city) in order to generate the necessary revenue to fund the proposed budget (after other revenue sources are taken into consideration).

The millage rate for the City of Madison for 2010 was 4.794, or $4.794 per $1,000 of taxable value.