Monona City Budgets

The Monona City Council will adopt the 2008 operating budget and the 2008-2009 capital improvement program at our Monday, December 3 meeting. I've been through this process nine times and pretty much every year somebody has said it was going to be a tough year.

Well, this year's operating budget really is in fact a tough year and next year will be even tougher. Last year we were able to use about $400,000 from various fund balances. The mayor's proposed budget would again use about $400,000 in fund balances.

Using fund balances is not a bad thing - it allows services to be maintained while holding property taxes to a minimum. The problem is that in 2009 there will be very little available in fund balances (maybe $60,000). Trying to cut some $350,000 out of the budget in one year would cause drastic cuts in public serves, increased fees, or both. The City of Monona is a very lean operation; if you find some fat, let us know. The challenge for 2008 is to find ways to close the gap for 2009.


One thing we will likely need to do is increase the property tax levy by the 3.86% allowed by the Governor's budget. That will cost the taxpayers about $165,000, but it will begin to close the 2009 gap. We will be looking at other options. Reducing spending is simply not a realistic option to close this gap - without wrecking services. We could start charging for services like garbage collection (that's a 'last option' for me).


One possibility is to cut back on the amount of roadwork that we do. That's by far our biggest capital expenditure. That won't help much immediately, but may be necessary. The problem is that the city fell behind by not doing much with the roads in the late 1990's and early 2000's. It's a losing proposition in the long run.


The years of frugal budgets with levy increases between 0% and 2% has turned out not to be sustainable when health insurance and energy costs advanced at a double-digit pace. Alder Thomas has raised the possibility that we need to come to the voters and ask to exceed the state's 2% levy limit in 2009. I want to see where we end up in 2008 before I sign on to that proposal, but it may be our only viable option.


Your input is welcomed (and not just here, but at the city council meeting or by email or phone call).