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Milton OKs cuts, but doesn't ax position

MILTON — The Milton City Council considered a proposal to cut a staff person for the first time in recent memory but decided the savings wouldn’t be worth the loss in service, Mayor Tom Chesmore said.

The 2010 budget proposal does, however, include smaller raises for non-union workers, less money for community organizations and one fewer summertime public works employee than originally proposed.

“We cut where we needed to cut,” Chesmore said. “We kept the essential services that people expect to have in place. I’m pretty happy with the final numbers.”

The proposed budget includes a 2.34 percent increase in operating expenses and 4.5 percent increase in the tax levy.

City Administrator Todd Schmidt estimates the owner of a house worth $100,000 in 2010 will pay $14.71 more in city property taxes than last year. Property values decreased by 2.1 percent in the last year, so that house would have been worth $102,111 in 2009.

However, residents will pay more in garbage and recycling fees because of an increase in state fees. They also will pay the first full year of stormwater utility fees after the city council approved the utility in August. The owner of a single-family home will pay $61.33 more in fees under the proposal.

Schmidt estimates the owner of the $100,000 house will pay $76.04 more in city taxes and fees under the proposal.

City staff and elected officials found several places to cut the budget proposed by department heads, which would have raised the levy 15 percent.

The council voted to delay its assessment cycle for a year, eliminate its investment advising and cut the amount it gives to organizations such as The Gathering Place, MACCIT and the Milton Historical Society by 10 percent. It decided to use its fund balance and previously borrowed money for several capital expenses, eliminating those from the levy.

The council approved requiring non-union workers to pay premiums of 1 percent on the lowest-cost insurance plan. It cut non-union raises from 3 percent to 1.5 percent.

Schmidt hopes to meet with the city’s two unions before the Monday, Nov. 30, budget hearing to ask for the same concessions, he said.

The council did not approve a suggestion by Chesmore to cut the city’s assistant public works director position. Under Chesmore’s proposal, the city would no longer do building inspections and the police department would take over code enforcement.

Chesmore prepared the proposal as a last resort in case the council wasn’t happy with the budget at the end of discussions, he said.

“There was a dead silence afterward,” he said. “The council was not comfortable taking away the position.”

Council member Brett Frazier believes there’s at least one more thing the council can do to lower the levy.

The proposed budget includes $27,000 to study possibilities for the public works department’s aging facility. But Frazier doesn’t believe the study is necessary this year because officials have agreed that a new fire station is more important than a new public works facility, he said.

The Milton Joint Fire Department is exploring grant options for a new station.

Frazier would have preferred no levy increase, but he’s glad the council cut as much as it did, he said.

“It’s much better than what we started out with—much, much better—but it’s not exactly where I had hoped that it would be,” he said.

He hopes many residents turn up at the public hearing to let the council know if it’s on the right track, he said.

MILTON CITY BUDGET

A look at the proposed 2010 budget for Milton:

Total budget

Next year $3.12 million

This year $3.05 million

Increase 2.3%

Tax levy

Next year $2.55 million

This year $2.44 million

Increase 4.5%

Tax rate

(Per $1,000

of assessed valuation)

Next year $6.99

This year $6.70

Increase 4.3%

Note: Percent changes calculated on whole numbers.