$300,000 in cuts made
By CHRISTOPHER DIEM, Journal Staff WriterArticle Photos
Commissioner Don Potvin outlined several things included in the budget he was not happy with and said the commission could do a better job.
“I’m not at all impressed ... that we managed to cut $300,000 from a large budget. I think we could have done more. I think we should have done more,” Potvin said, referencing the amount of money that was saved by eliminating some services and operations of various city departments.
Commissioner John Kivela disagreed.
“We asked ... to have the department heads come back with a 5 percent reduction in their budgets and for the most part they all did,” he said. “We sat painstakingly for three nights going over all those cuts. Some of them too painful.”
During special budget meetings last month the commission voted to: eliminate the cemetery sexton’s position, change the hours of Marquette Planning Commission meetings, reduce the number of days Tourist Park is open to campers, eliminate parts of health care coverage for department heads and middle managers as well as make many other cuts.
Kivela said the commission looked at everything and made some “decent cuts.”
“Is there more? I think there was room for more,” he said. “The majority of the commission felt otherwise. I can live with that.”
Mayor Tom Tourville said it was impossible for all seven commissioners to agree on every single cut that was or wasn’t made.
“It is very easy for any one of us to sit here and talk to you for 10 minutes about the things that I personally think we should have done differently ... how can you have seven people agree on hundreds and hundreds of points in a process that is difficult at best,” he said.
The commission voted 6-1, with Potvin dissenting, to approve the budget.
The budget does not include a tax increase this year, but the idea of a possible tax increase in 2009 was discussed during budget work sessions.
The projection for a possible tax increase in 2009 was based on the need to begin debt payments next year for $9.5 million in bonds the city issued.
The $9.5 million would be used for major city projects, including reroofing the city’s municipal service center salt barn, reconstruction of Wright and West Michigan streets, repairs of Alger and Champion streets and annual maintenance of streets and sewer lines.
Finance Director Gary Simpson said that, based on this year’s numbers, the debt service payments would be a problem for the general fund next fiscal year. However, he said revenues may increase next year as well due to increased taxable value of city property.
Increases in water/sewer and stormwater rates are included in the budget, which goes into effect July 1.
The city raised the rates to help pay for the projected debt service of major reconstruction projects.
An average homeowner now pays about $4.39 a month in stormwater fees, which will increase by 35 cents to $4.74 per month.
The average homeowner pays about $45 a month for water/sewer. The rate will increase by $2.83 for a monthly rate of $47.83.
