Council reviews 2010 budget
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By BARBARA LYON
editor@dunnconnect.com
Sunday, November 8, 2009 7:06 AM CST
After nearly two months of negotiations, the Menomonie City Council made relatively short work of unanimously approving an agreement between the city and the Menomonie School District for the services of a police liaison.
But before and during its regular meeting Monday night, the council performed a page-by-page examination of the city’s $14.183 million budget for 2010 — up just slightly from last year’s $14.181 million budget.
Ward One Representative Ed Smith expressed alarm at the miniscule size of the contingency fund, one that he said should be between $500,000 and $700,000. Instead, it’s set at $23,913.
“We’ve argued about this every budget and unfortunately, this thing has been going down for the last two or three years,” Smith said. “We did have $275,000 in there last year. For this budget, $23,000 looks a little bit puny. ... It’s a little like running down Main Street naked, because I know we’re going to get caught.”
Smith recognized that the solutions for increasing the contingency fund are few — and painful.
“We only have two ways to do it: Raise taxes — we only have $80,000 wiggle room there [because of state-imposed levy limits] — and the other way is to cut,” he said. “And we’re getting down to the bone right now. I don’t like either choice and I don’t have a solution.”
Mayor Dennis Kropp pointed out that like other municipalities throughout the state, revenue has decreased. “The shared revenues that we count on from the state have decreased this year by $71,000,” he said. “The money the state gives us for having UW-Stout here for services provided ... has decreased by almost $11,000.”
In all, shared revenue has dropped by more than $200,000, Kropp told the council.
Although the tax levy will increase from the 2009 rate of $6.17 per $1,000 of assessed property value, City Administrator Lowell Prange said the exact amount cannot be determined until the city receives the state’s assessment ratio. He estimated that the levy could rise nearly 20 cents per $1,000, meaning that city property owners might expect pay an additional $20 on a $100,000 home.
Excluding debt service expenses, there is a .6 percent, or $190,476, reduction in the city’s operating budget from the 2009 totals. And only $13,650 in capital items are included in next year’s budget, compared to $51,500 for 2009.
And according to the memo attached to the 2010 budget, “Because the City Council approved a 2009 budget that increased less than 5.8 percent, excluding debt service payments, the city qualified for an expenditure restraint payment of $63,637 which will be received as part of our 2010 state aids.”
The city council will hold a budget hearing when it meets on Monday, Nov. 16.
In other action
The council approved the following:
• An order to remove diseased Dutch elm and oak wilt trees from various locations throughout the city. Property owners are required to have the trees removed. Otherwise, the city hires a private contractor to remove the trees at a cost of $120 per tree, which is billed to the owner.
• An ordinance amendment regarding mercury pollution minimization control as required by the sewer utility permit.
• A resolution authorizing the submission of a funding request application from the Energy Efficient and Conservation Block Grant program to improve the lighting and heating system at the downtown fire station as well as the lighting at the Leisure Service Center and the park maintenance building.
• Revisions to the city’s safety and health best work practices manual.
• Designation of Dairy State Bank as a depository for public funds.
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