City’s tax asking to remain the same
The tax asking will remain the same after discussion on the 2017-18 budget at a special meeting of the Grant City Council on Aug. 23. Over a dozen Grant citizens attended.
Significant capital outlay line items included $250,000 in the airport budget for a potential AWOS (Automated Weather Observing System,) $5,500 in the cemetery budget to open a new section, $110,000 in the sewer budget for lift station repairs, $94,251 in the street budget for armor coating,$195,000 in the waste budget for a garbage truck and $165,000 in the electric budget for half of street light project.
These projects will be funded through the city’s cash reserves and utility funds.
Library budget
The library board presented their budget at the July 25 city meeting. Nebraska State Statute 51-207 says “the library board shall have exclusive control of expenditures, of all money collected or donated to the credit of the library fund, of the renting and construction of any library building, and the supervision, care and custody of the grounds, rooms or buildings constructed, leased or set apart for that purpose.”
This means that while the city council can determine the total amount budgeted to the library, they can not determine their specific line items.
The library asked for $95,014 in electric franchise fees. The city distributes $205,000 in electric revenue to the library, cemetery and park/recreation to offset expenses.
Because electrical rates were not increased this year, the franchise fee dedicated to the library remained the same as last year at $93,789, which is 46 percent of the total franchise fee. This created a deficit in their budget of $1,225.
While the city’s budget reflects a wage increase of 2.5 percent for employees across the board, the library budgeted for a 3 percent cost of living wage increase. This half percent difference concerned Council President Darrell Pierce, who said he felt all city employees should receive the same raise.
Library Board President Brenda Styskal said much of their wage increase was due to increasing their two part-time employee’s hours by eight hours each.
Terry Galloway of Almquist, Maltzahn, Galloway & Luth, P.C., the city’s accountant and auditor, said the library is operating at a cost of $86 per person, and normally, a city the size of Grant would spend about $50 per person.
Larry Peterson, library board member, questioned how those libraries compared to Grant’s in terms of operable hours, book distribution and program offerings.
Styskal said circulation and the use of the library has more than doubled, and they have increased staff hours.
Councilman Robert Bounds suggested increasing the tax asking to accommodate the $1,225 deficit. The motion failed after a tie vote. Council members Andrea Brueggeman and Matt Greenwood voted no, stating they were not in favor of raising taxes.
Brueggeman said there was no reason they couldn’t find $1,225 somewhere else in the budget. Greenwood agreed, making suggestions of items to decrease such as dues and trainings or professional services.
Jeff Wallin, library board member, asked why airport rental income was going down and if that could be increased $1,225.
Greenwood suggested taking $612.50 out of both the parks/recreation and cemetery franchise fees to give to the library.
“I’m not in favor of raising taxes. Take the money from somewhere else, put it in the library and be done with it,” said Greenwood. “I’m not happy with these numbers at all.”
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