City proposes 2023-24 budget of $102.9 million

continued from front page ing its way through the courts for 15 years.

“The way the budget is structured, the amount that has to be paid to Haberman from this point forward will be in the budget for the entire time it has to be paid off,” Council President John Bendo said. “There will not have to be any additional Haberman money added to the budget.” This means that taxes will not increase again next year because of the settlement.

Haberman originally sued the city for $130 million, but over the years the suit grew to $150 million, and Bendo said that interest had been accumulating at $1.1 million a month. With the settlement, the city must now pay Haberman $5 million per year — a financial obligation that has been nicknamed the “Haberman levy.” If the city had not succeeded in winnowing down the settlement, next year’s tax rate would have been 26 percent, according to Bendo.