By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green’s budget for 2024 sets aside money for the long-awaited paving of Pearl Street and Sand Ridge Road, two additional police officers, technology updates, and plans to make the most from the last year of American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The city’s budget is bolstered by healthy economic development plus increased revenue from the city’s income tax and hotel-motel tax last year. The income tax came in about 1.3% higher than the previous year, generating about $300,000 more for city coffers.
The proposed city budget is $163 million, compared to about $159 million last year.
But as the city grows, so do the demands for services and staffing.
“There are growing pains,” Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter said, listing off the needs for investments in infrastructure, resources and staff.
That means several worthy requests did not make the cut for the budget, she said.
“Balancing a budget means sometimes saying ‘no,’” Tretter said.
So various requests will go unfunded in next year’s budget, such as four additional public works employees, various improvements to the police station and Pearl Street fire station, two new ambulances, plus trucks and mowers for public works.
Inflationary impacts from prior years are still being felt, and concerns about future inflation effects loom, according to Tretter, who presented the proposed budget to City Council’s finance committee on Thursday evening.
Tretter assured that the city had a “solid financial year,” and the same is expected for the coming year.
Mayor Mike Aspacher said the budget allows the city to perform its most basic responsibility of providing the day-to-day services that city residents rely on – police, fire, utilities, roadwork, planning and more.
City Council member Greg Robinette, who chairs the finance committee, praised the budget proposal, which will be presented to the entire City Council on Monday evening.
“This is a continuation of city services that our citizens expect and enjoy,” he said.
City officials are keenly aware that 2024 will be the last year to use funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. The nearly $7 million received by Bowling Green has funded several projects that the city could not have afforded otherwise.
“Its impact has been significant on the community,” Tretter said.
In the past year, those ARPA funds paid for miles of residential street paving, housing repair grants for applicants just above the HUD threshold, grants to several non-profit community groups, and public restrooms in the downtown.
“The housing program has made a significant difference in the community,” paying for 63 repairs at 40 homes, Tretter said.
In the interest of balancing the budget, city staffing numbers have stayed mostly static, and several capital improvement projects continue to be pushed to future years. But Tretter warned that these decisions can have detrimental effects. Some of the more pricey projects postponed include a new east side fire station, and improvements to the police station.
“In the 2024 budget, this concern is significant and the city’s inability to adequately invest in capital items threatens to impact operational effectiveness,” she cautioned.
The city’s 2024 budget includes no utility rate increases. Capital investments for system maintenance and to support growth are included and have been recommended by the Board of Public Utilities. Quality product and delivery of municipal utilities along with reliability and safety are priorities in the budget allocations.
As part of the budget presentation, Tretter listed off notable accomplishments for the city in 2023:
- Zoning code update complete
- City building construction complete
- West Wooster Street project complete
- Wooster/Campbell Hill roundabout substantially complete
The new city building is “much more citizen friendly” and provides a much improved work environment for employees, Tretter said.
Following are more details from next year’s budget proposal.
2024 budget priorities
- Maintain excellent municipal services
- Retain talented and dedicated staff, and recruit new staff
- Continued emphasis municipal organization, development and facilitating operations
- American Rescue Plan Act
- Infrastructure: Streets and sidewalks
- Capital items
- Debt obligations
Major financial influences on 2024 budget:
- Income tax
- Pressures from deferred maintenance on facilities and infrastructure; capital expenses; overtime costs
- Federal funding opportunities
- Increasing investment/cost of technology
- Balancing on-going and forthcoming initiatives
City priorities – new and ongoing
- Analysis of city revenue streams
- Economic development
- Infrastructure – streets and sidewalks
- Housing
- Technology
- Capital projects, such as police and fire stations
Staffing requests
The following positions were funded in the budget: a sustainability coordinator, two police officers, a senior planner/code compliance, two engineering positions, a GIS person, and electric substation tech.
The following positions were not approved for funding: two additional police officers, a parks and recreation administrative assistant, three public works equipment operators, and a public works equipment laborer.
Plans for American Rescue Plan Act funding in 2024
- Designate remaining funds
- Housing program (Year 3): $200,000
- Residential paving (Year 3): Pearl Street from Wintergarden Road to South Church Street, and Sand Ridge Road from Wintergarden Road to South Maple Street; ADA ramp upgrades; catch basin repairs; and isolated curb and sidewalk repairs on Pearl and Sand Ridge
Infrastructure: Streets and sidewalks
- Sidewalks – funding included for replacement projects (50/50 program)
- Notable upcoming paving work (other than ARPA projects): South Main Street, from Ordway Avenue to the corporation limit in 2025; Brim Road shared use path in 2026; and paving of Brim Road from Poe to Bishop roads, with roundabout construction at Brim and Bishop roads in 2027
- Safe Routes to Schools
Capital items approved for funding:
Buildings
- Pearl Street Fire Station roof
- Police Station west windows replacements
- Downtown light poles painting
- Municipal Court exterior and roof (court funded)
Equipment
- Citywide GIS, permitting and software improvements
- For fire division: SCBA, three Zoll vents, and extrication equipment
- For IT department: wireless access points and camera upgrades
- For police division: NVR server
- For public works: GIS plotter, and two 144-inch deck mowers
- For park and recreation: 72-inch rear discharge mower
Vehicles
- Ongoing leases
- Van for planning department
- Equipment to outfit police cruisers
- 50-ton hoist for public works
Capital item requests that are going unfunded:
- Pearl Street Fire Station HVAC system
- Police Station masonry restoration
- Police Station windows on north, south and east
- Gutter guards for the Veterans Building and Nature Center
- SCBS full replacement for fire division
- Fire paratech multi-force airbags
- Fire stations in-house alerting hardware
- Five mowers for public works
- Two ambulances
- Utility vehicle for fire division
- Tandem axle hook truck for public works
- Three-quarter ton pickup truck with plow for public works
