First city budget proposal aims to hold steady on tax levy

The first rough draft of the $15.9 million city budget makes no increase in the city tax levy.

Le Mars City Council members have begun study of the preliminary balanced budget for the coming fiscal year. A series of budget workshops start next Tuesday, Jan. 27.

Bill Cole, city finance director and assistant city administrator, emphasized that the budget proposal received Tuesday by the council at its regular session is only that, "a starting place" for the final adopted budget.

It includes $197,000 in general fund capital items with an additional $787,000 in enterprise or additional capital expenditures.

The budget package also reflects a 4 percent salary hike for all city positions. Cole said the increase in the case of the city's bargaining employees is part of the bargaining unit's five year contract now in its fourth year.

Increases for non-bargaining employees, he added, are dependent on their respective future performance reviews and "may or may not" show the 4 percent increase for all who are members of this group.

General fund revenue, Cole said, is projected to increase by only an estimated 3.5 percent from the current fiscal year with general fund expenditures budgeted to about 3 percent.

"This is significant," Cole said, "considering that the 4 percent wage increase and the $197,000 in capital add up to $197,400 more than this past year despite the elimination of three full-time city positions."

The eliminated positions include two in the engineering department and one in public works as announced earlier by the city.

The city's Enterprise Funds, reflecting as Cole put it, "a very stagnant economy," showed what he described as "the only real increase" in revenue, that being attributable to the recently approved wastewater increase. Cole noted that the preliminary budget package does not show the need for new additional debt or borrowings.

Councilmen Rex Knapp and John Rexwinkel, members of the city finance committee assisting with developing the budget proposal, indicated their agreement with Cole's description of the proposal as a "conservative" one.

The three were in agreement as well, as was City Administrator Scott Langel, that this approach was necessary in light of the current economy as well as the uncertainty of future state and federal spending that could impact the city. A $150,000 "reserve fund," as recommended by the Finance Committee, is included in the budget proposal as a result of the uncertainty on outside funding sources.

The Finance Committee has also recommended a close look at departmental requests for vehicle and equipment purchases in the coming year and if purchase of "basic spec. or used" rather than new vehicles be considered for purchase in response to such requests.

An additional committee recommendations as budget work continues are those calling for "an accounting' of building value, improvement costs and life-expectancy of existing city buildings when improvements are deemed necessary.

The committee has also recommended the lowering by $100,000 the money from TIF to the General Fund, then using additional TIF revenue to pay for the city's already completed capital projects.

Library and Mainstreet representatives will join those from the public works, water, wastewater and police departments scheduled to meet with the council at its workshop session next week to continue in the budget fine-tuning.

Council Person Delana Ihrke has asked that City Library Director Sue Kroesche

be prepared for discussion on a possible look at additional county funding of the library budget usage numbers in the wake of what she believes is increased use of the facility by county residents.

"It's good to see more people using the library," Ihrke said, "but perhaps with a more equitable funding level."

Ihrke's concern, she said, is that the county is now responsible for only 4.5 percent of the library funding as compared to the city's 95.5 percent.

Councilman Knapp also asked that Kroesche determine if it were possible for possible extended library hours without additional spending.

Mainstreet's Mary Reynolds, meanwhile, is expected, Cole said, to discuss the organization's $25,000 funding request. Cole added that other requests to be discussed in subsequent budget preparation sessions will be those from Mid-Sioux Opportunity for $5,000 and $7,500 matching fund requests from the Plymouth County Historical Museum, the Art Center and Le Mars Municipal Band.

Mayor Dick Kirchoff commended city staff and committee representatives for their efforts thus far on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget. He reaffirmed his and the city's desire to provide services to local citizens in a "business-like" manner and "to keep this puppy running" as he put it relative continued work on the final budget package.