The Garden City Telegram
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City works toward stable mill levy
Published 7/1/2009 in Local News
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
Garden City commissioners on Tuesday were looking at having to make about $238,000 in reductions in the city's budget to avoid a mill levy increase for the 2010 budget.
City Finance Director Melinda Hitz and City Manager Matt Allen told commissioners they had the option of cutting from the proposed 2010 budget or increasing revenues for the city. By the end of Tuesday's budget workshop, the commission ended up settling on staff recommendations for cutting the budget, as well as agreeing, at this point, to not give a $36,000 increase the Finney County Economic Development Corp. requested for 2010. With the reductions, the city's 2010 levy would remain level at 37.977 mills.
The commission also plans to approach an ad hoc committee formed by Allen as a sounding board on city and employee issues to find a possible $40,000 savings in employee benefits.
Commissioner John Doll said FCEDC's requested increase of $36,000 to its 2009 budget of $89,000 was a larger amount for it being a tough budget year for all of the entities.
Garden City Mayor Nancy Harness said she felt there were some funding issues that need to be discussed as far as economic development, but that funding an increase for operating expenses won't address the issue of long-term funding for the entity.
Commissioner David Crase said he felt commissioners would be shorting themselves by not funding the increase with all of the prospects FCEDC is dealing with.
Harness brought up the fact again that FCEDC and Downtown Vision are operating as two separate storefronts when tax dollars are being used to fund both. Commissioners have discussed before the desire to see the two entities locate together to save on operating expenses.
Harness said she thought the request by FCEDC for a $36,000 increase was a "presumptuous request" and that it doesn't address the issue of long-term funding.
While all of the commissioners said they support economic development, Doll said he thought the city needed to determine what funding level is fair for FCEDC and economic development. He also said that while he feels economic development is valuable and should be a priority, the city's employees "are so much higher" in his list of priorities.
Crase said he felt FCEDC had been operating with both hands tied behind its back as far as a lack of funding, but Doll said he hasn't seen big results from the FCEDC.
The commission agreed the planned Aug. 6 meeting with FCEDC and its other funding partners of Garden City Community College, Finney County and the city of Holcomb to discuss the future of economic development and funding for the entity will be an important one.
Staff recommendations for budget reductions included the city budgeting at a rate of 12.86 percent instead of 14 percent for the Kansas Police and Firemen's Retirement System, which would save about $25,000.
Staff also recommended reducing $50,000 from the budget to bring the amount the city has budgeted for community sidewalk construction, improvements and replacement to $50,000. Allen and Hitz said they felt the city could do the same amount of work with the money but that it could be done at a lower cost in house. The commission also removed $88,500 from the budget for Southeast Park landscaping because there's no water source to allow for watering and upkeep of the landscape.
Another reduction was $42,500 for the new exit at Lee Richardson Zoo. The exit would go along with a new entrance, which is part of the zoo's master plan, but the work doesn't need to occur yet.
Allen and Hitz also removed $10,000 as part of correcting an error.
The commission then approved staff taking the $50,000 saved from the community sidewalk reduction and allocating $20,000 of savings to neighborhood, safety, gang and graffiti funding for addressing safety issues and community cleanup. The other $30,000 in funding went to development funding that would allow the city to have a total of $60,000 toward new development incentives.
The commission also approved cutting $5,000 for replacement of commission computers.
After the reductions, a $31,000 balance remained for the commission to find some way to reduce from the budget.
The commission directed Hitz and city staff to draft a notice of budget hearing the commission will consider at its July 7 meeting that starts at 1 p.m. at the City Administrative Center, 301 N. Eighth St. If the notice is approved, the commission would have its budget hearing on July 21.
On the Web:
City of Garden City: www.garden-city.org
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