Posts
The council adopted the 2008 operating budget last night and the 2008-2009 capital budget early this morning (about 12:30 a.m.). We considered some 18 amendments to the operating budget and 43 amendments to the capital plan. Here are some prominent actions:
Operating Budget:
Increased overall levy by 5.82% or $87.32 on median ($277K) home
Small increases to the senior services and library budgets
Approved $15K for a study of 911 dispatch ($7500 operating and $7500 capital)
Rejected proposal to eliminate dispatch (I'll have more to say on these two items in separate posts)
2009 and 2009 Capital Improvement Budgets
Note: The city does two-year borrowings for capital projects so we approved both 2008 and 2009. We will be considering the other three years of the five year plan (2010-2012) early next year.
Some background. In 2007 the net debt paid from taxes is $1,555,317. That was projected to increase to $1,645,490 in 2008 and $1,795,857 in 2009. We are looking at ways to temper those increases. 2008 is pretty well set, but may be reduced by a refinancing staff is working on with our financial consultant. Also beginning in 2008-2009, the city is evaluating doing 15-year bonds for roads and utilities (currently 10-year notes). Anyway, there is a general concern about the debt service and a focus of last night's debate was looking for ways to reduce spending. And we did so, cutting capital spending by about $160,000 from the mayor's proposed budget.
That being said, the commitment to catch up on maintaining our city infrastructure, especially roads, water mains and sewer lines, is the biggest chunk of our capital spending. (Monona Drive road work is being funded by TIF, except for the water and sewer work).
Capital Amendment Highlights
(Amounts are total expenditures after amendment unless noted)
Cut $120K for a proposed Kiddie Splash Pool
Delayed $60K for skating rink at Winnequah Park
Cut $56K for utility truck
$30K to finish the skatepark in 2008
$30K for rubber mulch at three parks in 2008-2009
$25K for Schluter Beach bathroom refurbish in 2009
$50K for Fireman's Park bathroom replacement in 2009
$35K for playground equipment in 2008-2009
$31K for library collection expansion
$10K for library computers
Added $56K to Road Construction to do Winnequah Road section by Schluter Beach Park
$20K to extend South Towne bike path across the railroad tracks and connect with Cap City Trail
$25K for facilities study (City Hall, Library, Community Center).
$14K for kitchen updating at Comm. Center
The council also chose to leave in $97,000 for 911 replacement equipment, but move it from 2008 to 2009 pending study results. Turns out the city only receives about 3.5 emergency 911 calls per day. Obviously the 'dispatch' workers are doing a lot of other things, like non-emergency communications, and general support work. You can go here: http://mononapolice.com/Pages/Dispatch_Budget.htm to read a report by the Monona PD. The report has some good data, but also some very one-sided analysis. And to top it off the PD has put a handy link to email the council on the same page. The lobbying by staff is blatant, heavy-handed, and in my view, inappropriate. My initial take from the report is that we probably need most if not all of the dispatch positions that we currently have to do all the non-911 tasks, but I'm not sure we can justify the capital costs (like this $97,000) to handle such a small number of 911 calls. We need all the facts and even-handed analysis and we are obviously not going to get it from our PD staff.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
If I was a dispatcher, I would be fighting for my job too! I am not sure I understand why you think that this is inappropriate, Doug. Can you explain? I guess I would sort of liken it to an election. They are asking for public support of their positions. And, they are city employees. What better way to provide an avenue for public feedback?
ReplyDeleteI don't have a problem with posting the report; the council asked for that to be posted. That being said, the report is far from neutral. Putting the email link on the same page is an obvious attempt to apply political pressure on the council. "Here read our one-sided report and then tell the council what you think."
ReplyDeleteThe PD web site is a city web site, not the personal property of the staff. The email link is being removed. You can find all of our email addresses on the city web page, but here it is: alderman@ci.monona.wi.us
The report is from PD management, not the dispatchers. We are not getting unbiased advice. For example, the anecdotal stuff that with Dane County dispatch there would be "a 3 to 4 minute delay in each and every ambulance dispatch in the City of Monona". Personally it is hard to believe that Fitchburg, for example, who uses County dispatch, would settle for that kind of service.
And anyway, I strongly suspect that we need most if not all of those positions, but not for three or four 911 calls a day. The issues have unfortunately been mixed together.
And we may decide that we do want to keep 911 dispatch too. But until we get comprehensive unbiased data and analysis this issue is going to keep coming up.
Fitchburg has their own dispatch. They do not use the county.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this information and it leads me to whole lot of questions.
ReplyDeleteutmost:
1. How much is this all going to cost me on the ole property tax bill? It does not sound good.
If you didn't want to be subjected to political pressure, then why in God's name did you run for a position on the Council?
ReplyDeleteOh my. That is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever heard come out of the mouth of a politician.
It's not about political pressure, Doug. It's about doing the right thing for your community, and the people you serve.
Doug is right, Fitchburg uses Dane County for their dispatch services. But we are not Fitchburg, and all positions, including PUBLIC OPINION, should be taken into account when assessing our situation.
Sorry Doug. You were elected to represent Monona's public. I know that in the past you have been at odds with the majority of your constituents' opinions. You can vote however you want, but you should at least appear to care what the people you represent want, right?
Doug -
ReplyDeleteIf people believe in something, and feel threatened as to there future status as an employed individual, how can you expect an unbiased report!
Everyone knows that a "report" is only as good as the person with the pen in their hand.
Fitchburg has their own non-emergency dispatch BUT they use the county for 911 dispatch (as do all communities in the county except Middleton, Sun Prairie, and Monona).
ReplyDeleteCost: $87.32 on median home with $277,000 value.
'Pressure' question. I obviously have no problem with people telling us how they feel (I put our email address in my post!). My issue is with our city staff using city web site to apply political pressure. That's just wrong.
At odds with the majority? Well, the voters chose me. I was certainly in the minority on the last school referendum (although that was not a city gov't issue). Other than that I don't know what other issues you are talking about.
Public opinion matters and the more informed it is the more influential it will be. I certainly get a lot of feedback from this blog. That being said, the reality is that we almost never really know what most of the people think about a given issue.
Thanks for the answer, but I was not being clear.
ReplyDeleteHow much are property taxes going up...overall..from last year?
Thanks.
Property taxes for the city's portion are going up 5.82% over 2007 which is $84.32 on a median value home ($277,000).
ReplyDeleteI don't know the amounts for the other taxing bodies (MGSD, county, etc.), but I think they are all about 6%.
Thank you Doug, for providing a volunteer outlet for information sharing in Monona.
ReplyDeleteIf the skating rink is delayed, how are the efforts to clear the ice on the Lagoon doing? Has a lighter-weight snowblower been purchased? Any more thoughts to flooding the area on Waterman?
ReplyDelete