By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green’s budget for 2023 is a sequel to this year’s budget – “steady forward” – not to be confused with stagnant.
City Council’s Finance Committee met Thursday evening to hear the budget details from Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter. The budget will be presented to the entire City Council during its regular meeting Monday evening.
Mayor Mike Aspacher set the scene, describing the budget’s primary focus as “funding the day-to-day services of police, fire and ambulance, public works, utilities, parks and recreation, and all other departments that keep our citizens safe, traffic moving, streets clean, deliver dependable electric service and safe drinking water, and provide us with a safe and enjoyable place to raise our families and call home.”
The budget also looks ahead to long-term priorities of infrastructure, facilities, downtown, neighborhoods and sustainability.
So what does that mean for Bowling Green residents?
Citizens will see a lot of orange barrels for repaving of residential streets. They will be able to attend City Council meetings in the new city building without overcrowding. And they will see work on public restrooms downtown.
There are also several projects that likely won’t be noticed by residents initially – until results come to fruition. Those include the shift of the economic development office to city government, planning for major downtown improvements, and development of an exterior housing code.
As for the actual numbers, the proposed non-utility expense budget is nearly $95 million. Add in the utility budget and the amount to be appropriated in the 2023 annual ordinance will be about $159 million.
The good news is the income tax revenue came in $1.1 million higher than projected, and American Rescue Plan Act funding is still being put to use on city improvements. The bad news is that continuing inflation is taking a bite out of the city budget.
“I suspect that many have tired of this word – and we are certainly tired of dealing with it – but it is a reality for all of us and the city is not an exception,” Tretter said of inflation.
The city is also facing several pressures on the budget, such as:
- Deferred maintenance. The city is making progress in maintaining facilities and infrastructure, Tretter said. “But weighty concerns remain and most of the remedies have significant price tags,” she said. The Court Street Fire Station and Police Station continue to encounter problems and developing a strategy is increasingly urgent, she added.
- Capital expenses. The city is seeing excessively long lead times for ordering, inflation impacting costs, aging fleet and equipment, and the allocation for the city’s capital improvement fund is not keeping pace with the costs. Tretter said a new fire engine that cost $525,000 in 2014 now costs $880,000 – plus the order lead time is two to three years.
- Overtime. Overtime budgets, particularly in the safety department, continue to be impacted by increasing workloads. A “concerning trend” is the call overlap for the fire division, Tretter said. She has directed staff to begin analyzing staffing levels, call volume, staff needs, and funding levels.
- Technology. The city must continue to invest in technology for the many benefits, but it must also do so for the safety of citizens to protect city systems and store data appropriately, Tretter said.
The priorities of the budget are to maintain quality municipal services and retain talented and dedicated staff.
“More than I can recall in the last decade, there were several requests for additional employees in the 2023 departmental budget submissions,” Tretter said. “The submissions we reviewed were well justified and, in some cases, even contain a potential to save money in the near-term as overtime will be reduced by more personnel to cover shifts and newer hires enter at a lower wage.”
While all of the requests had strong justification and proved organizational need and benefit, Tretter said, the ‘steady’ part of the budget could not absorb all of these requests.
So it was decided to include positions that were funded – but unfilled – in the 2022 budget and to fund a few additional shared positions. The funded but unfilled positions include a senior planner in the planning department, a person for the public works division, and an additional person in the fire division.
The city is proposing the creation of an economic development department, with the current economic development director to become a city employee.
New positions approved also include a public works equipment operator and a person for the IT helpdesk.
The city is also preparing for numerous retirements planned in 2023. The city saw several hiring surges in the police and fire divisions in the late 1990s. Those employees are now eyeing retirement.
Tretter listed the city’s priorities for next year:
The new City Administration building construction will be completed in late summer 2023. The new building will be more accessible and comfortable, staffing alignments and coverage will be improved in the new space, and public meetings will more appropriately accommodate the BG community.
Neighborhoods are a continuing priority. The ARPA residential paving program is positive progress, Tretter said. Likewise, the city’s housing grants and the expanded ARPA funded housing program is boosting neighborhood conditions and assisting citizens, she added. Funding for 2023 will be used for development of an exterior housing code and an update to the city’s subdivision regulations. The completion of the rental registration and self-inspection program by the end of 2023 will continue to provide information and opportunities for improvement.
Complete Streets is both an on-going effort related to mapping and planning updates and actionable items, which include the comprehensive bicycle treatment map, funding acquired for the shared-use path in the north part of the city, ADA ramp improvements, and sidewalks repairs.
Downtown Forward: The work of Downtown Forward, launched in the late summer of 2022, is underway and will begin to yield downtown enhancement plans in 2023, Tretter said.
Sustainability: The 2023 budget includes a number of on-going items related to sustainability such as the food waste compost drop-off, on-going outreach efforts, and the Climate Action Plan.
Residential Paving Program: Using ARPA funds, the city plans in 2023 to pave:
- Finch from Wren to Oriole.
- Wren from Finch to Haskins.
- Swallow from Wren to the end.
- Oriole from Finch to Wren.
- Warbler from the cul-de-sac to Cardinal.
- Cardinal from Finch to Oriole.
- Martin from Cardinal to Wren.
- Teal from Finch to Cardinal.
- Lafayette from Conneaut to Finch.
- Oakwood from cul-de-sac to Cedar.
- Rosewood from cul-de-sac to Cedar.
- Dogwood from cul-de-sac to Cedar.
- Beech from Conneaut to Rosewood.
- Aspen from Rosewood to Cedar.
- Ashwood from Cedar to the end.
- Hickory from cul-de-sac to Cedar.
- Cedar from Conneaut to Rosewood.
- Rosewood Drive from Cedar to south of Margaretha.
- Orleans from Aspen to Lafayette.
- Garden from Wallace to end.
- Wallace from Garden to end.
- Vine from Wallace to end.
- Parker from Haskins to end.
- Lambert from Vine to end.
- Devonshire from Conneaut to cul-de-sac.
- Tamarac from Conneaut to Devonshire.
- Kensington from Devonshire to previous project joint.
- Cobblestone from Devonshire to cul-de-sac.
- Sommerset from Cobblestone to end.
Infrastructure: Streets and Sidewalks
With funding partnerships, the city is planning other street and utility improvements. “We are pleased to have so many community projects on the horizon,” Tretter said. “Bowling Green is worth investing in and maintaining our community is another core mission of this government.” Those projects include:
- West Wooster, Church to Haskins in 2023.
- Haskins, West Wooster to Wren in 2023.
- Campbell Hill/East Wooster roundabout in 2023.
- West Newton, Brim to North Main in 2024.
- West Gypsy Lane, Sandridge to South Main Street in 2024.
- East Gypsy Lane, Dunbridge to I-75 in 2024.
- South Main, Ordway to corporation limit in 2025.
- Brim Road shared use path in 2026.
- Brim Road, Poe to Bishop; paving and roundabout construction in 2027.
Also during Thursday’s meeting Tretter also listed some of the city’s 2022 accomplishments – as proof that “steady forward” is not “stagnant”:
- Significant progress on the update to the city’s zoning code.
- City building construction is well underway.
- First year of East Wooster Street paving.
- Launching of Downtown Forward initiative.
The city also made use of ARPA funding for:
- Over five miles of residential roads were paved.
- Housing grants for “gaps” and those applicants just above the HUD threshold.
- Building and operating of the MARCS radio tower to improve public safety.
- City Park paving, walking path and lighting/security Improvements.
- Assisted with funding for the inclusive playground at Carter Park.
BG also worked on Complete Streets initiatives:
- Applied for and received $1.2 million from ODOT to continue implementing Complete Streets with a shared-use path connecting Cogan’s Crossing to the high school and community center.
- Constructed a new crosswalk with pedestrian refuge island on East Wooster Street and a new crosswalk on Wintergarden connecting to Simpson Garden Park.
- Finalized the comprehensive bicycle treatment map.
- Completed 116 ADA ramp improvements and repaired 2,465 linear feet of sidewalks.
