08-22-2005 CC MIN - SPECIAL - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

City Council Minutes Page 3 August 22, 2005 ----------------------------- Councilmember Motin indicated his support for keeping the tax rate level and, furthermore, stated the budget should reflect only a 10% increase in the NTC. In this regard, if the NTC increased more than 10%, these funds could go into a designated reserve. Ms. Johnson stated that the requirement by September 15 is to certify the maximum levy and that this amount cannot be increased at a later date. The budget does not need to be balance by September 15. Mayor Klinzing asked for discussion on the $90,000 mower. Parks and Recreation Director Bill Maertz reviewed with the City Council the repairs that were required on the mowers in 2005. The proposed mower is 16’ wide versus the current mowers that the city has, which are 11’ wide. The new mowers can mow 14 ½ acres per hour versus the current mowers only mowing 8 acres per hour. Mr. Maertz indicated that the proposed mower is now the new standard in the industry and identified numerous cities that have purchased these mowers. Councilmember Dietz asked if the new mowers would save on labor and delay the need to add staff. Mr. Maertz indicated a negative response to this question and that the new and better equipment would simply allow staff to keep up with mowing all the parks during the heavy mowing season in the early part of the year. Mr. Maertz furthermore noted that downtime of equipment is and has been a major factor in keeping up with mowing of city parks. The Council asked about the need for two new CSO vehicles with the understanding that another CSO employee would be hired in 2006. Police Chief Jeff Beahen responded that he supports the street superintendent and understands the need for a second truck in 2006 and, furthermore in that regard, he is willing to delay the request of two CSO vehicles and the bar code system in order to free up funds for the second snowplow truck. Discussion continued regarding the Police Department needs and citywide needs due to the growth and development that is taking place. Councilmember Dietz indicated that he supported using all of the NTC increase for the budget and having the general fund budget finance as much capital outlay as possible. Council discussion took place regarding the Fire Department needs. Fire Chief Bruce West responded by discussing the fact that most of the Fire Department trucks are expensive and that all of his major vehicles are on a standard replacement schedule based on the type of apparatus. Councilmember Farber asked how much capital outlay could be purchased using $120,000 as an annual levy amount over a five year period. Ms. Johnson indicated that this annual levy amount would finance over $500,000 worth of capital purchases in 2006. Mayor Klinzing expressed her concern regarding how expensive some of the requests are and how high the total capital outlay request is for 2006. General discussion took place regarding the NTC increase and the level of capital needs in the city. It was noted that the Council should focus its discussion on the city tax rate.