Charles City department heads and city leaders present budget to public

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

They’re just numbers on a spreadsheet. But those numerals and commas are the guidelines on what the city will do in the coming fiscal year, and how it will pay for it.

“We have a lot of good department heads,” said Charles City Administrator Steve Diers. “They’re very responsible and so when the budget requests come in, I don’t get a lot of pie in the sky requests. They’re very realistic. They know it’s always going to be tight and there’s not a lot of money to work with.”

Diers said that means there’s a lot of give and take when it comes to balancing the budget to make it work for everyone involved.

“They know when they present their budgets there might be changes. If I have to make cuts in various departments I always try and get the feedback of the department head and the council,” he said. “When it comes to me having to make cuts, there’s no fluff usually by the time it gets to me.”

A public hearing will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 2, to receive comments or answer questions about the proposed Charles City fiscal year 2020-21 budget.

After that hearing, the City Council will vote whether to approve the budget that came in just a shade under $27 million. That’s the total for all expenditures the city is planning on making for the fiscal year that runs from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

“I think we’re getting a lot of value out of this budget. I think we’re getting a lot of things done for the amount of money that we’ve got to work with,” Diers said.

This year’s total list of expenditures is markedly lower than last year’s $40 million dollar budget because of the fiber-to-the-home project. The budget was passed for fiscal year 2020 at $40.25 million but was later re-estimated at $37.87 million.

“We budgeted the fiber-to-the-home project and that’s $13 million that would have been in last year’s budget that’s not in this year’s budget,” said Diers. “It’s a telecom project. It will be in the telecom expenditures and budget when that actual project happens.”

The city’s total revenues and other sources are $28.65 million and the total of all expenditures and transfers out amounted to $29.98 million.

The proposed city property tax levy rate increased 12 cents from $15.90 to $16.02 per $1,000 of taxable valuation.

How does this affect property owners when it comes time to file taxes?

Diers said that an owner who pays property tax on a $100,000 home would see a yearly tax increase of $6.60 for fiscal year 2021.

With the state’s rollback included, homeowners pay tax on about 55% of a property’s value.

“Your $100,000 home will be taxed as if it was a $55,000 home,” said Diers.

The state’s backfill amounted to almost $193,000 for the entire budget.

“We were counting on this money to fund various operations, projects and equipment,” said Diers.

Factors that drove the 12 cent increase were the transit service, which saw its 34 cent levy increase by almost eight cents in this budget. That equated to just under $21,000 more the city can utilize.

Other individual levy increases came from the regular general fund levy ($8.10), which increased by approximately $21,000 as well. Other increases were in the liability, property and insurance ($29,000), debt service levy ($53,000), police and fire retirement ($29,000) and FICA/IPERS ($5,000).

The employee benefits (health, insurance) levy decreased by $76,000.

The overall tax asking with utility tax replacement is $4.2 million. That is $84,000 more than the current year.

Diers budgeted $3.1 million for public safety and $1.4 million to fund public works. There was $3.8 million utilized for capital projects and $12.4 million for business type/enterprises. Community and economic development was allotted $2.6 million. Culture and recreation saw a figure total $1.4 million should the budget be passed next week.

Some of the major projects that are planned or equipment that is scheduled to be purchased in the budget includes:

– Fire station doors, $47,500.
– New police squad car, $32,500.
– Tree removal, $35,000.
– Miscellaneous sidewalk work, $40,000.
– Parks and Rec full-time superintendent, $40,000 a year salary; $25,000 net increase in general fund.
– Wildwood Golf Course Clubhouse siding, $35,000 added to FY21 budget for total of $50,000.
– 401 N. Main window/door/entryway construction project, $60,000.
– Charles City Arts Center, stormwater repair $25,000; bathroom remodel, $20,000.
– City Hall front reception remodel, $20,000.
– Nuisance abatement, $40,000.
– Lions Field LED ball field lights, $100,000.
– ROW tree trimming work, $60,000.
– Main Street Bridge repair and painting ,$260,000.
– HMA larger street projects, $1.275 million.
– Concrete annual work, $150,000.
– Debt service for street projects, $217,000.
– Charley Western Trail Bridge, $1.2 million.
– Sewer lining, $300,000.
– Construction related projects for streets, $290,000.
– 4×4 truck for water department, $30,000.
– Lighting on Corporate Drive water tower, $35,000.
– 3.5% annual increase after second 20% increase (spring of 2020) for a positive carry over total of $714,000 for payments for water resource recovery facility (WRRF) project
– Second half of South Grand/Oliver Street work, $125,000.