By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green residents will be able to see where the city is spending a lot of its tax revenue next year. There will be $600,000 spent on paving neighborhood streets and the new building in City Park will be completed.
But many of the expenses won’t be visible – at least not right away.
The city plans to spend about $100,000 updating its zoning code, and will start the search for a new location for the fire station currently sitting at East Court and Thurstin streets. It will maintain core services, update its website, and work on Community Action Plan goals.
Some expenses will go unnoticed, except to city employees who are depending on the city to have enough to cover the 27th pay period, which only comes around every 11 years and which will cost an extra $400,000.
Citizens are not likely to notice the negotiations for five union contracts, the four possible retirements, or the increase in health insurance costs.
“I know a lot of people spend a lot of time making our budget work every year,” said City Council member Bruce Jeffers on Monday evening. The city department heads don’t ask for “crazy stuff” and countless hours go into making the numbers add up, he said.
Much of the city’s budget is already divided into different funds due to past decisions to automatically divvy up income tax revenue into areas such as the sewer and water fund, fire fund, police fund, street repair fund and recreation fund.
For every $100 of income tax collected, $37.50 goes into the general fund and can be used at City Council’s discretion.
“Our citizens hire all of us to provide services that affect them directly,” Jeffers said.
Those include police and fire services, public works, public utilities and parks.
“Our citizens have told us that police and fire are very important to them,” Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter said. In addition to looking for a new fire station location, the city is also putting money away for a new fire pumper. And efforts are being made to improve the cooling system in the police station, with updating inefficient windows.
The city plans to undertake a “robust” street paving program next year, spending up to $600,000 on neighborhood streets. Much of the street work in the last few years has focused on major routes like Main and Wooster streets. (A related story will appear in BG Independent News on the street work planned for 2020.)
City residents may also notice a $2 a month fee added to their existing $13 a month trash and recycling pickup bills. That story can be viewed at http://bgindependentmedia.org/bg-at-odds-over-fee-hike-for-trash-and-recycling-pickup/
Tretter reviewed City Council’s priorities for next year as:
- Continued focus on neighborhood revitalization efforts and CAP initiatives.
- Identifying economic development opportunities along East Wooster corridor.
- Zoning code update.
- Discussing opportunities to improve the BG citizen experience, such as increased use of technology, civil enforcement of nuisances, and bicycle safety efforts.
City revenue for 2019 was above estimates, primarily due to one-time increases in a Bureau of Workers Compensation reimbursement and income tax revenue above projections. The city can’t count on those reoccurring, Tretter stressed.
Council President Mike Aspacher praised Tretter and other city staff for their work on the “daunting task” of creating the 2020 budget. He mentioned the fire and police services provided by the city as “priceless,” and supported the city’s investment next year in information technology, and in equipment for various departments.
On the equipment purchase list for next year is a chipper, radios, powerlift cots and a snowplow. The city will put another $30,000 toward a van bucket replacement for the city arborist, and another $50,000 toward a fire engine replacement.
Also planned are improvements at Simpson Garden Park, including trail paving and parking lot maintenance. And $200,000 is being set aside for maintenance on the police station.
“We have a lot of older facilities, and we need to be paying attention to that,” Tretter said. Otherwise, deferred maintenance results in “cascading costs.”
Expenses increased in the parking fund, due to several factors including the city purchasing the parking area behind 130 S. Main St., plans to put parking kiosks in all the city lots, and the extended “parking holiday” due to downtown construction.
Some concerns were raised by council finance committee members – primarily about the $2 a month proposed fee increase for garbage and recyclable pickup. But other issues also prompted questions, such as the lack of preparation for the 27th pay period in 2020.
“We’ve been talking about it for about 10 years,” Tretter said. A payroll stabilization fund was set up so the 27th pay doesn’t “rock the budget” as much. However, that fund is about $100,000 short of the $400,000 that will be needed for the extra payday.
Council member Greg Robinette said he was disappointed that the city wasn’t better prepared. He suggested the city work harder over the next 11 years, “so we’re in better shape to do that.”
Robinette also questioned the expenses for the parks and recreation department, which were slightly higher than the revenue. Tretter reminded that three buildings have been torn down in City Park, and the replacement is under construction. When the new building is open for rentals, that revenue will help, she said.
Robinette asked about the cost of the zoning code review. Tretter said the update would cost about $100,000. The changes could help increase the tax base, Robinette said.
“Anything we can do to make city city more attractive and bring people in is a good thing,” Robinette said.
Tretter also talked about the city services that may go unnoticed by many residents, but are vital to others. The grant funded public transit and Community Development Block Grants help many. Last year, the funds helped with:
- Nine mobile homes.
- Eight homes for elderly residents.
- Two rental homes.
- One home repair.
- Fair housing education programs.
- Reduced transit fares for 99.
- Transitional housing for 115 homeless people.
- $169,000 to local businesses in revolving loan funds.
“The people who did receive the funding, their lives were changed,” Tretter said. “These are real people. There are citizens of Bowling Green who are impacted.”
Jeffers praised the use of the funding for those most in need.
“We have poor people in Bowling Green. We even have homeless,” he said. “I’m really glad we do what we do.”
