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Beloit gives final OK to budget
By Sara Siekierski
It was a challenging year for City of Beloit officials as they attempted to balance the 2009 budget while facing rising costs and limited state shared revenue.
The months of planning came to an end Monday night when the Beloit City Council approved the city's 2009 budget.
"The budget process went very, very well, perhaps surprisingly so," said Beloit City Council President James Van De Bogart. "We were quite worried."
Officials don't know what the future will bring, but for now they are happy with the way things went this year, Van De Bogart added.
The budget was originally out of balance by $1.1 million. In August, city officials proposed three one-time-only funding sources of $797,000 to balance the General Fund. A snow and ice removal fee of $20 per year was proposed to cover the remaining $300,000, but that gap was filled in late September after the city received $375,000 in unexpected increases in three areas of state aid.
The council approved other fees to help cover rising costs (see a breakdown of these proposed fees, accompanying this story). There will be no increases in water, sewer and solid waste charges.
The 2009 budget is $115.2 million, an increase of $28.9 million, or 33.5 percent, from the 2008 revised budget. The increase is largely a result of a Capital Improvements Budget totaling $36.7 million, an increase of $25.2 million, said Finance and Administrative Services Director Paul York.
Two projects make up the majority of the Capital Improvements Budget increase. The first is improvements to the city's water, storm water and wastewater utilities, which will be funded using utility revenue bonds. The second is the extension of Gateway Boulevard from Eagles Ridge Drive to Hart Road, which is located in TIF 10 and will be funded using federal highway grant funds and lease revenue bonds.
The General Fund is $29.7 million, an increase of $615,242, or 2.1 percent. The General Fund is the major operating fund and provides the funding for most city services, York said. Enterprise funds, which include the cemeteries, Krueger Haskell Municipal Golf Course and the wastewater treatment facility, among others, are set at $18 million, an increase of $585,600, or 3.35 percent.
The tax levy will increase $358,282, or 3.14 percent, from this year. The 2009 tax rate is $8.046 per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of $0.172 from 2008. This means an owner of a $100,000 home will pay an additional $17.20 in city property taxes next year, which equals $1.43 a month, York said.
Salaries for city workers will increase 3 percent next year.
Also Monday night, City Council passed the Community Development Block Grant budget of nearly $1.1 million and the Business Improvement District Plan and budget of $285,620.
While councilors did approve the city's application for a State Trust Fund Loan to cover additional library construction costs of over $755,000, they chose to lay over amending the 2007 Capital Improvements Budget to appropriate the additional funds. The library board has said the additional costs will most likely be covered by fundraising, but councilors would like to hear more about the fundraising process before they go ahead and approve the appropriation. They would also like to hear more about the self-checkout system and whether the library fund can cover some of the additional costs.
The additional costs come from the repair and reconstruction of masonry parapet walls, telephone and data cabling and other change orders and a second furniture equipment package.
Beloit City Council also:
The months of planning came to an end Monday night when the Beloit City Council approved the city's 2009 budget.
"The budget process went very, very well, perhaps surprisingly so," said Beloit City Council President James Van De Bogart. "We were quite worried."
Officials don't know what the future will bring, but for now they are happy with the way things went this year, Van De Bogart added.
The budget was originally out of balance by $1.1 million. In August, city officials proposed three one-time-only funding sources of $797,000 to balance the General Fund. A snow and ice removal fee of $20 per year was proposed to cover the remaining $300,000, but that gap was filled in late September after the city received $375,000 in unexpected increases in three areas of state aid.
The council approved other fees to help cover rising costs (see a breakdown of these proposed fees, accompanying this story). There will be no increases in water, sewer and solid waste charges.
The 2009 budget is $115.2 million, an increase of $28.9 million, or 33.5 percent, from the 2008 revised budget. The increase is largely a result of a Capital Improvements Budget totaling $36.7 million, an increase of $25.2 million, said Finance and Administrative Services Director Paul York.
Two projects make up the majority of the Capital Improvements Budget increase. The first is improvements to the city's water, storm water and wastewater utilities, which will be funded using utility revenue bonds. The second is the extension of Gateway Boulevard from Eagles Ridge Drive to Hart Road, which is located in TIF 10 and will be funded using federal highway grant funds and lease revenue bonds.
The General Fund is $29.7 million, an increase of $615,242, or 2.1 percent. The General Fund is the major operating fund and provides the funding for most city services, York said. Enterprise funds, which include the cemeteries, Krueger Haskell Municipal Golf Course and the wastewater treatment facility, among others, are set at $18 million, an increase of $585,600, or 3.35 percent.
The tax levy will increase $358,282, or 3.14 percent, from this year. The 2009 tax rate is $8.046 per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of $0.172 from 2008. This means an owner of a $100,000 home will pay an additional $17.20 in city property taxes next year, which equals $1.43 a month, York said.
Salaries for city workers will increase 3 percent next year.
Also Monday night, City Council passed the Community Development Block Grant budget of nearly $1.1 million and the Business Improvement District Plan and budget of $285,620.
While councilors did approve the city's application for a State Trust Fund Loan to cover additional library construction costs of over $755,000, they chose to lay over amending the 2007 Capital Improvements Budget to appropriate the additional funds. The library board has said the additional costs will most likely be covered by fundraising, but councilors would like to hear more about the fundraising process before they go ahead and approve the appropriation. They would also like to hear more about the self-checkout system and whether the library fund can cover some of the additional costs.
The additional costs come from the repair and reconstruction of masonry parapet walls, telephone and data cabling and other change orders and a second furniture equipment package.
Beloit City Council also:
- Approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with state of Illinois for the Stateline Area Transportation Study
- Approved site leases with Denali Spectrum Operations, LLC, a wireless communication operator, for space on one of the light towers at Telfer Park and on the city's water tower on 138 Mill Street
- Approved the release of a recorded easement on Sager Lane to accommodate Hydroblend and approved the dedication a new fire lane agreement to replace the vacated easement
- Approved a Wastewater Treatment System Enforcement Agreement between the city of Beloit and the city of South Beloit
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