Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Council discusses cuts in proposed city budget - 9/1/1986
District 196 rings in
f
tr new school year...p. 5A , '
eal Est,' ~te Section
Classifielj'~' Section 064 1
THISWEEK
NEWSPAPERS
Volume 7, No. 27 Sept. 1,1 1
9186 Eit G-1
Three Sections Section A
Council discusses cuts
in proposed cit
budget
y By CHRISTY DeJOY than $1.4 million over the 1986 ap- Par of the increase in the mil
"We're the closest we've ever propriated general fund of $6.2 rate f )r 1986 can be blamed or
million. To cover the increase, fisca disparities. Fisca
been to what we should end up at taxes would be raised $1,265,986, dispai ities requires growing
for a first budget session," Eagan according to the proposed' cities, like Eagan, to contribute
Council Member Jim Smith said budget. The other $2,492,530 to a p )t that non-growing cititx
at the Aug. 25 meeting. would come from other areas, draw 'unds from. The figure u
However, that doesn't mean such as fees for permits and based )n a city's assessed valu&
there won't be additional budget licenses, charges for services, tion. T ns year Eagan will lose an
cuts. The proposed 1987 city court fines and forfeits and estima :ed $400,000 to the fiscal
budget calls for a 1.445 mill in- miscellaneous revenue. dispar ties pot, based on an
crease from the 1986 budget. In the last few years, the assesst d valuation of the city at
"We've got to work at (cutting) budget has run under the general $263,471,734.
about $400,000," Smith said. fund because city finance direc- The ( ity is also hurting from its
Council Member Vic Ellison for Gene Van Overbeke is usually small ~ hare of local government
seemed less enthused. "It's conservative in his estimates of aid (L( A). Next year the city will
disappointing to have a 1.4 mill revenues and because of the only r, veive $330,000 in LGA,
increase in a non-inflationary city's rapid development. In 1985, while nany cities of our size will
year," he said. the city came out with an extra receive more than $1 million.
The reason that the council was $867,908. Van Overbeke esti- That's : tbout a 21./z- to three-mill
a step or two ahead en the first mated that this year the city decrea: e in property taxes,"
budget session was because city . would have one-quarter to one- Hedges ;aid.
administrator Tom Hedges had half a million dollars in revenues "We'j a going in the right direc-
already made some preliminary over expenditures.
cuts. The various city depart- Hedges said a 35 percent fund greater strides in that direction.
ments requested an $8.88 million balance is ideal for good fiscal On the c :her side, if local govern-
budget, and Hedges had trimmed management. "That sounds like ment air I is eliminated, we'll be a
it to $7,682,216. "Tom has worked a lot, but it could go in a real
with us long enough to be able to hurry if there were any catastro-
do that," Mayor Bea Blomquist phes, such as a community Bud(
said. disaster or a (court) judgment (et
The proposed budget is more against the city," he said.
See p. 5A
Budget... ~I
(Continued from front)
survivor," Hedges said.
The council skimmed through
department requests in order to
cut the budget. Discussed at
length was reducing the number
of police otticers to be aauea next
year. Hedges trimmed 'the
number from six to four and the
council suggested three.
"We've got to cut (the budget)
skinny. We'll look at manpower,
then at capital outlay," Blom-
quist said.
The next budget session is Sept.
8 and the council will conduct a
budget hearing at the Sept. 16 city
council meeting. Levy certifica-
tion is scheduled for early Oc-
tober.