HOLCOMB -- The cost of growth came up Wednesday night as Holcomb city councilmen approved publishing the city's budget for 2009 at a 1.23-mill increase.

According to Holcomb City Administrator Robin Peña, much of the budget increase can be attributed to the cost of updating the city's Comprehensive Plan. The cost to basically redo the plan, which is expected to give the city a vision for growth, is about $54,000. The city plans on paying a third of that, about $18,000, this year and the rest of the cost, about $36,000, in 2009.

With the value of a mill for the city at about $8,144, the plan is costing the city about 6.6 mills between the two years -- too much for taxpayers, according to Councilman Greg Cox, who previously opposed the city selecting and hiring a firm to rework the plan. The increase takes the city's levy from 48.468 mills this year to 49.697 mills. The proposed levy for 2009 is less than 2007's levy of 49.985.

The mill levy is the tax rate applied to the assessed value of property. A mill is $1 per $1,000 dollars of assessed value. For the owner of a $100,000 home, the city's increase means about $572 in taxes a year -- that's an increase of $15 from 2008.

The public hearing for the proposed 2009 budget is set for Aug. 13. The total city budget is increased from the current year estimate of $2,342,888 to $3,151,673 for 2009.

The city's preliminary valuation is up from $7,846,120 in 2007 to $8,143,606 for 2008. When valuation increases, the number of mills it takes to raise the same amount of money as last year decreases, but if the valuation goes down, the number of mills it takes to raise the same amount of money goes up.

The increase in professional fees and miscellaneous expenses also includes, among other items, the city's membership fee of $11,000 to the Finney County Economic Development Corp. A staffed police department, as well as a restarted volunteer fire department, also meant a budget increase.

The city also plans on transferring $175,000 from the General Fund to capital improvements to prepare for a balloon payment of about $130,000 in 2011 for properties the city purchased in order to have room for expansion.

"I'm not in awe of that," Holcomb Councilman Gary Newman said of the proposed increase.

But while all councilmen, aside from Mayor Jamie Jarnagin, who was absent, unanimously approved the budget for publication, Cox said he wasn't OK with the increase. With the poor shape of the economy, he said, as well as other entities increasing their levies, what appears to be a minor increase adds up and places a greater burden on taxpayers. Cox cited the approval to revamp the comprehensive plan as adding to the increase.

"But we also have to think about the future," Newman said, adding the plan should help with a vision to increase the number of businesses and industry in Holcomb, thus increasing the tax base.

The increase of the city's general fund expenditures from $980,745 in 2008 to $1,006,820 for 2009 represents an increase of about 2.7 percent. But that's under the rate of inflation of about 4 percent being experienced so far in the year, Newman said.

The lack of a comprehensive plan takes away the potential of new businesses, grant funding and growth for the city, Newman said, adding he'd heard no opposition from the public against the plan and its expense.

"I was thinking it was going to be double that," Newman said of the increase.

Councilman Trent Armstrong agreed with Cox, saying, "little things add up." However, Armstrong said, he feels the council is trying to be mindful of taxpayer money and make good decisions of how to spend it for the betterment of the city.

Cox said he'd like public input at the budget hearing and that, ultimately, he could not support an increase in the city's mill levy. He said the cost of decisions he'd previously opposed, such as the comprehensive plan, were "finally coming home to roost."

He said that if there'd been progression within city limits, he might understand redoing the plan and the city's FCEDC membership. "But there hasn't been," he said. Cox said because of the economy's condition he has had to make cuts in his personal budget, and he doesn't see why the city's budget should be any different.

He said he would either like to see the levy decrease or stay at 2008's level.