By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The city of Bowling Green’s finances continue to be in the black, with no red flags on the horizon.
Monday evening, the city’s Finance Director Dana Pinkert presented the quarterly update to the finance committee of Bowling Green City Council.
“It looks pretty much how we expected,” she said. “The revenues exceed expenditures.”
There was, however, one welcome surprise.
Pinkert reported that the city’s income tax collections are coming in almost 10% higher than last year at this time. Some of that, she explained, is due to the city changing the timing of its procedures, resulting in the city receiving some withholdings earlier than usual.
Pinkert was comfortable enough with the revenue increases, that she changed the city’s income tax revenue estimate for 2024 from 25.45 million to 26.62 million.
City Council President Mark Hollenbaugh asked Pinkert if she had any concerns that the increased revenue would be depleted later in the year.
“Any reason the second half would eradicate those numbers,” Hollenbaugh asked. She responded, saying no.
Council member Bill Herald asked Pinkert what city finance issues keep her awake at night. Nothing the city can control, she said, just “unknowns of the economy.”
Council member Greg Robinette, who requests the quarterly financial updates, thanked Pinkert for her thorough report.
Mayor Mike Aspacher expressed his appreciation for the healthy city budget.
“The city is on solid financial ground,” Aspacher said.
In other business at the meeting, Aspacher praised the city’s water and sewer crews for handling a water break that occurred last Friday after midnight. The workers stayed on the job through the night and into the next day. The mayor credited the crews for quickly returning water service to the area, noting that a limited number of apartment buildings were without water for about one hour.
Also at Monday’s meeting, City Council adopted an ordinance authorizing the municipal administrator to enter into contracts for site analysis, concept design, and financial projections for improvements to two of the city’s safety buildings – the police station and the Court Street fire station.
Safety issues at both stations have been a topic of discussion for years.
Once the study is completed, city officials will engage the public in “community conversations” to identify how the city should proceed.
The east side fire station, on East Court Street, is “structurally unsound,” the mayor said earlier this year. The city worked with a statewide fire chiefs association to determine where the replacement station should be located, and if the city needs more than its current two stations.
As for the police station, it’s not moving. But it needs to expand, the mayor said. City leaders are committed to keeping the police headquarters in the historic building in the downtown, at the corner of West Wooster Street and South Church Street.
In other business on Monday evening, council adopted an ordinance authorizing the city utilities director to enter a construction agreement with the Wood County Port Authority, and enter into contracts for engineering services for utility and right-of-way improvements for the expansion of Wood-Bridge Business Park, on the east side of Bowling Green.
