Staff Writer
City officials began the annual review of the budget Tuesday night, looking at the individual spending plans for the public works, police and fire and ambulance departments — the three largest in the city government.
The $8.4 million budget reflects an increase of almost 3 percent, according to the budget information distributed to the City Council. Revenue also is expected to increase. The spending plan does not include costs for education.
A total of $2.6 million, a 4.3 percent decrease, would be raised in taxes to support the proposed spending plan, according to the projections.
In his review, City Manager Steve Buck said that if the budget is not changed and the city’s valuation stays the same, taxpayers could see a .53 decrease in their tax bills.
Buck cited 12 components for the increase in the budget, one of which was major employee costs. The budget included a projected 3 percent cost of living adjustment for all employees. While health insurance costs decreased, workers compensation insurance saw an increase. The bottom line for employment, which is about half of the budget, is a net increase of $83,223.
The largest change in the 2008 budget is in ambulance billings, which shows a decrease in $164,400. Buck said that the City Council needs to carefully analyze this issue as it considers the 2008 budget.
As expected, the cost of petroleum and electricity is expected to increase, according to the proposed budget.
The city’s capital improvement plan, where city officials place money for large equipment and other expenditures, also is expected to increase by almost $60,000.
Other increases are seen in the cost of road maintenance, and winter salt and sand.
The air ambulance volume also has seen an increase of $61,000 in expansion, due to an increase in usage and the addition of a second 421 Cessna to the Air Ambulance Fleet.
General assistance saw in increase of $8,100, which “lends an indication of the needs within our community for assistance services,” Buck’s budget message said.
The cost of police training increased by $62,340, which included overtime expenses realized when officers were at the Police Academy in training. Another addition to the increase is the cost of police training.
On the revenue side of the budget, $5.1 million, an increase of almost 2 percent over last year, is expected to be generated. Other sources of revenue, such as excise tax, investment interests and ambulance revenues are expected to decrease, according to Buck’s projections.
In all, $654,000 was left over from the operations budget from 2007 that can be used in the current budget cycle.
In the budget information, the individual departments’ spending plans are available for review. Workshops are expected to continue until the council holds a public hearing on the completed budget. Adoption is expected in March.
