Council discusses funding requests of TLC, Save the Depot

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Outside agency funding requests by The Learning Center (TLC) and Save the Depot were the hot topics of discussion Wednesday as the Charles City Council heard the budget proposal for fiscal year 2022 from Charles City Administrator Steve Diers.

TLC, which requested $150,000, is aggressively seeking funding and support as it looks toward moving into the North Grand Building by next fall, then expanding its capacity and operations in the years beyond.

Diers proposed allocating $100,000 to TLC over three years, at $33,000 per year. After much discussion, the council came to a consensus that the number was a good amount.

“TLC is organized, they’ve been here a long time, and they’re making a major move,” said council member Jerry Joerger. “They have a financial game plan for the future which I think is good.”

Save the Depot requested $25,000 for its ongoing project. The hope for several years has been to move the depot off the Canadian Pacific Railroad property, onto nearby property that will make up an American Passenger Train History Museum. The relocated and renovated depot would serve as the entry point for that museum, as well as providing exhibit space and public meeting and serving as a possible trail head for the city’s biking and walking trails.

Diers proposed giving the Save the Depot organization $20,000. The consensus of the council seemed to lean toward awarding an amount less than that, closer to $10,000, which is the amount the council told Diers to put in the budget.

“I’d like to see the depot succeed, and I’ve donated to them myself, but they’re talking about money just to get it moved,” said Joerger. “They really don’t have a strong organization or a good game plan, so I have some concerns.”

Most of the council seemed to agree with Joerger’s sentiments. Council member Keith Starr said he liked the idea of giving the group some funding, but at a lower amount than what Diers suggested.

“I was originally not a big fan of the Depot project, but I’ve grown to like it more,” Starr said.

Council member DeLaine Freeseman said he supports the efforts of Save the Depot, but thought the city should be careful as it allocates funding for it.

“That’s a building moved, and we save an historic building and that’s a good thing,” said Freesman. “But, I’m not so sure that’s the place the city needs to stick a whole lot of money into.”

Among other outside agencies, Diers proposed granting $42,000 to the Charles City Area Development Corp., $25,000 to Community Revitalization, $1,500 to Crisis Intervention, $1,000 to the newly formed Cultural Equity Board, $3,000 to the Charles City Arts Center and $4,400 to the Floyd County Museum.

For the most part, there wasn’t much disagreement with those amounts, although the council recommended lowering the Equity Board amount to $500.

As to the general fund budget, Diers told the council that the overall tax asking with the utility tax replacement is $4,456,355, $226,179 more than last year. Changes include the regular general fund levy increasing by about $77,000, the transit levy down about $85,000, and the debt service levy up nearly $175,000.

Diers explained to the council that there is a negative cash flow in the general cash fund in his proposed budget of $134,236, largely due to to the Parkside Housing project. The city is required to pay $17,500 per lot in a development agreement with the Garner construction company building the homes, and anticipates eight lots to be developed which equates to $140,000.

The city will “cash flow” those expenses and not borrow funds to cover the initial expense, and will be reimbursed for the cash outlay beginning in fiscal year 2024, as TIF property tax increments become available and revenue flows back into the general fund. Adjusting for this $140,000 amount, the budget shows a positive operating cash balance of $5,764.

Diers said that cash reserves remain generally strong, although they are reduced from the last couple of years. Based on his budget proposal, at the end of fiscal year 2022 the city will have a general fund cash balance of $1,651,367.

As to allocation of funds for the various departments, Diers said that if the Police Department is fully staffed, wage expenditures would increase by more than $60,000, and the department could lose about $33,000 in funding if E911 funding for a split position is removed.

Police Department expenditures include a new squad car ($35,700), a dispatch intercom ($3,000), a new server to replace the one lost to dispatch when that department moves to the new county law enforcement center ($6,000) and varying expenses for tasers, body cams, mobile computers and other equipment.

The Fire Department has two capital projects, which include garage doors ($47,500) and roof replacement ($75,000). The council will consider splitting those projects up over 3 to 4 years to lower expenses, depending on the urgency.

The budget will be certified after a public hearing at a meeting next month.