Alice Pickering
Wyoming Area ReporterNo decision has been reached about the final 2005 Wyoming tax levy and budget. City council, department heads and residents met Monday to find common ground on services and how to pay for them.
Many ideas were exchanged, departmental budgets and line items were examined thoroughly, but in the end, the council tabled a decision until a second hearing Dec. 13.
To the 40 residents who showed up for Mondayís Truth in Taxation hearing, Mayor Vern Haag explained that levy limits for cities were lifted for 2005 and that department heads were asked to produce budgets with ìreal world figuresî of what they need. Most budgets included ìitems that have been postponed for many years,î he said.
At the last council meeting, department heads had not proposed cuts in their budgets, but these had arrived just before Mondayís meeting.
City Administrator Jill Teetzel said with reductions proposed, the revised budget ìseeks a levy of $1,445,756.10, a $215,150 decrease from the preliminary budget.
For the recent past years, the council has attempted to put together a budget that would provide services to the residents, but keeping the levy steady.
CM Lynn Koalska, budget liaison, explained that last year, major cuts came in the budget mid-year because of cuts in state aid. ìWe havenít cut services at all over the years, yet maintained an even tax base,î she said.
Jack Jorgenson alarmed at the increase in the tax bill, asked if there would be another meeting. Jason Hopkins said no matter the tax rate, impact in real dollars is what makes sense to most people.
One resident asked about the large line item for Nextel phone service ($11,000), believing a better contract could be negotiated. Former Mayor Neil Gatzow observed capital programs ìhavenít increased at all.î
Details reviewed
Teetzel reviewed the general government budget, identifying places where cuts can be made.
Postponing the opening of the new branch library until 2006 would produce a savings of $55,000. An additional $30,000 could be saved by again postponing the beginnings of an employee retirement fund (to pay for retiring employees who have cumulated unused sick leave, etc.)
For those who questioned the reason firm numbers were not provided, Teetzel said the software used to prepare the budget this year has been recommended for about five years, and the city is just finding the gaps in its operation. The budget provides good approximations. In addition, figures for 2004 are not available until all revenue is in, bills paid and the audit completed, she said.
On most budgets F.I.C.A. was not included until this year. Now this is a line item in each department budget. In the past, non-levy revenue had been enough to cover this cost.
Increases in the fire department budget have to do with a request for wage increases for firefighters up from $12.50 an hour to $18 an hour.
Fire Chief Dennis Berry said better pay is an incentive for active recruiting. Many firefighters are nearing retirement and the department wants to attract members who are available to work during the day.
Communities address compensation differently for firefighters, some paying more, others focusing on retirement.
Koalska said she is opposed to cutting any of the fire department budget. Berry emphasized the improved fire rating positively impacts the cost of home insurance. This can amount to a large savings.
Police Chief Tony Pangal says he hears from residents about the services they want in the community, including continuing the D.A.R.E. program at Wyoming Elementary. Also, there is no way to address complaints about maverick snowmobile riders without a snowmobile patrol.
Bike patrols rely on well-maintained bikes. In addition, the police department has no support staff, he said. Other cities around the county do have support staff. And there have been no officers added to the department since 2001, he said.
Pangalís job has changed to one with more administrative functions. When he is on patrol, hours over-and-above 40 hours, require overtime pay. Recent federal mandates require overtime pay for chiefs when they put in more hours on patrol.
Cuts under review
Possible cuts from general government include $55,000 from the new library, the result of which would be the postponement of its opening until 2006, instead of October 2005, and $30,000 from employee retirement, which is a phased in plan to build this fund to pay for accumulated sick time.
Hit hard the last few years by reductions, a possible cut from the parks department is $25,000 from the park capital program which was to be used to further develop Goodview Park. Additional reductions could be made by eliminating the softball coordinator ($750) and the hockey coordinator ($500). These cuts would reduce the budget by $26,250.
Maintenance Supervisor Bill Eisenmenger submitted what has been termed a ìbare-bones budget to start with.î
Haag said ìBill has put off items, so now they show up as increases in the proposed levy.î Recent comments about implied neglect of city streets are a result of severely reduced funding for this department.
There have been complaints about substandard streets and lack of repairs. The budget discussion revealed the reasons for these postponements in maintenance.
This is a budget that has never included new streets, and barely adequate money to repair and maintain streets the city now has, prioritizing repairs.
At Mondayís meeting, the only possible places Eisenmenger could see reductions are, once again eliminating $10,000 from a street replacement fund the city has been trying to establish; reduction by half of the seal coating line item ($5000); and cutting $4000 for street sign replacement. There was opposition from one resident to eliminating street sign replacement.
Questioned about truck payments, Eisenmenger said the high cost of maintenance has meant a cost savings when switching to a lease program for some vehicles. With the cost analysis as support, council supported this change.
Council will try to strike a balance between keeping the 2004 tax-rate of 41.265 which would still result in some increase in city tax because of property value increases, (budget of $1,333,817), a 2005 tax-rate of 34.529 with no levy increases (budget of $1,096,404), or a 2005 tax-rate of 50.307 which would result in a larger tax increase (budget of $1,6542.506).
Ultimately the decision will come down to what residents are willing to pay for services. It is clear from comments that residents are willing to pay a fair share of the costs to operate the city, but do not want large increases.
At Mondayís meeting, the council worked at finding places to make further cuts to meet a 2005 budget of that seeks a levy of $1,445,756.10, a $215,150 decrease from the preliminary budget.
By a vote of 3-1, a decision was tabled until Monday, Dec. 13. Koalska voted against postponement of the decision.
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