Needing to cut at least $172,000 because of the latest Local Government Aid hit to the city on tap for this summer, but presented with a list of potential budget reductions for 2010 totaling $458,000, members of the Crookston City Council Monday evening endorsed a middle ground approach that reduces the budget by around $290,000.
The latest LGA unallotment was previously expected to be $409,000, on top of a $385,000 reduction for 2010 that the city previously accounted for. But Gov. Tim Pawlenty ended up signing the supplemental budget put forth by the House and Senate last week that reduces the mid-year hit to $172,000. Because of that semi-good news, the council on Monday chose to put other items on the list of budget reduction options on the "back burner" for now. However, they might not remain there beyond the city's 2011 budget discussions that will commence later this year, City Administrator Aaron Parrish advised. This year's LGA cuts were in response to a state budget deficit of around $1 billion, he explained, but when a new governor takes office in January 2010, the deficit is projected, depending on how much inflation is factored in, to be anywhere from $5 to $8 billion. Such a figure, he said, is very likely to result in a larger 2011 LGA reduction for Crookston than the current $95,000 that's projected.
Each of the four specific budget reductions recommended for full city council approval will be considered and voted on as stand-alone resolutions, Parrish said.
The reductions include:
• Reallocating Community Development Director Mike MacDonald's salary and benefit package totaling around $90,000 from the general fund to the special service district "flood fund" (see accompanying story for more details on that)
• Reducing the annual general fund contribution to the street improvement fund by $100,000: The annual contribution currently totals around $276,000, but Public Works Director Pat Kelly said the decrease could be offset, at the least, if and when the state certifies Crookston's state aid street system. That could happen as early as this year, he explained, and when it does the city will have access to approximately $130,000 in reimbursable street project expenses each year, for non-state aid street work as well.
• Reducing annual general and special revenue fund capital expenditure funding by $75,000: Each year, Parrish said, around $400,000 is spent from this pot of funds on capital projects like new squad cars, playground equipment, the fire truck replacement fund or various projects at the library, to name a few.
• Saving $25,000 by restructuring Public Works/Water and City Clerk Department staff so that, once an anticipated retirement takes effect, the clerk/treasurer's secretary would also perform the duties of the public works billing clerk.
Back-burner items
A series of raise-your-hands votes indicating yes, no or maybe in reaction to other budget reduction options resulted in several items being put off until future budget discussions and/or future LGA reductions.
They include:
• Saving $115,000 (a net reduction of two police officers) by reducing from two to one the number of patrol officers on duty during the day shift: Parrish said the reduction would come through attrition and not through any actual layoffs, but the non-financial price would be service level and safety concerns, for both the community as a whole and officers potentially responding to calls alone. But, he added, police personnel takes up the largest component of the general fund budget, so it's an area that needs to be looked at for reduction.
• Saving around $5,000 by eliminating one of the city's two annual clean-up weeks: Even though Parrish said it's rare for a city to offer two clean-up weeks a year, a show of hands indicated that the council was split on the issue.
• Creating a separate Economic Development Authority/Housing and Redevelopment Authority levy that requires council approval and would amount to approximately a 3 percent levy increase that would bring in about $48,000 a year: Ward three council member Keith Mykleseth said he thinks "throwing more taxes out there" would be a mistake. If "push came to shove" Mayor Dave Genereux said he'd probably be in favor of the increase, which wouldn't be subject to state levy limits.
• Saving approximately $60,000 by implementing a one-day per month mandatory, unpaid furlough for city employees: It would essentially result in city hall and the police department (other than patrol personnel) being closed one day per month, Parrish explained. "It's not what I'd call a particularly desirable alternative, but it's something that a number of units out there are considering," Parrish said. "The upside is that it impacts everybody and the pain is spread among all instead of specific positions being cut. The downside...is that it impacts everybody."
• Raising $23,820 by increasing the garbage rate by 50 cents on city water/utility bills: Kelly said it hasn't been increased since 2006, and it would erase a deficit in the garbage budget. "Everyone's pretty sick of the fee because they don't use it," ward four council member Wayne Melbye said. "I think they'd rather you just drop garbage collection."
• Implementing a facility charge for ice sports like figure skating and hockey that take place at the Crookston Sports Center: It's not known at this point how much it would raise, but Parrish said that Crookston, one of only three cities in Minnesota that runs its youth hockey program through Parks and Recreation, "misses out" on facility use revenue levied on program participants in other communities. Thief River Falls gets more than $30,000 each year, he said, and in Detroit Lakes the annual revenue is closer to $60,000. The money would go toward operation costs at the CSC, he said.
