Tuesday, November 17, 2009
 
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City briefs: Dire finances, Ameren, sidewalk replacement, enterprise zone and more

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[November 17, 2009]  At the Monday night voting session of the Lincoln City Council, nine members were present. Alderwoman Melody Anderson was absent for the evening.

Treasurer writes letter on the state of city finances

Les Plotner, city treasurer, reports monthly on the financial condition of the city. This month he was unable to attend the meeting but issued a three-page letter outlining the condition of the city as of the end of October.

His letter made it quite clear that the city is facing dismal times.

Following are excerpts from that document:

This report is being submitted to keep all of you abreast of the declining revenues this Fiscal Year as compared to FY 2008-2009. We don't have to look any further than our own City of Lincoln tax receipts to realize that we, like other municipalities and the State of Illinois, are in the midst of an economic depression that affects the economic stability of our city's financial resources.

The main purpose of this document is not only to outline the seriousness of our declining tax revenues but to also encourage you to start thinking now about what can and must be done to cope with this problem for the successful completion of the 2009-2010 Fiscal Year and to start planning now for the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year Budget.

Property taxes for FY 2010-2011 by law (Property Tax Extension Limitation Law) will only increase approximately $1400-$1600 for the 2009 Tax Levy payable in 2010. The CPI (Consumer Price Index) to be used for computing the tax extension limitation is 0.1% for the levy. Therefore, increased property taxes are not a solution for solving your financial problems for budgeting in FY 2010-2011.

Plotner's letter listed five of the city's tax revenue sources, four of which are suffering significant decreases over what was projected for the year.

Revenue from sales tax is down 6.5 percent, non-home rule tax is down 4.65 percent, income tax is down 17.6 percent, and personal property replacement tax is 14.4 percent less than this time last year.

Only revenues from the telecommunications tax are showing increases over last year. However, it should be noted that on several occasion last year, Plotner said that those revenues were actually lower than had been expected. Therefore significant increases this year may not equate to similar increases next year.

Plotner warned that not only are these revenue shortfalls going to make maintaining this year's budget a challenge, but it is also going to have an effect on how the city develops its budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

When the letter was introduced by Mayor Keith Snyder, Alderman Buzz Busby spoke up and said he wanted each department head to receive a copy of Plotner's letter.

He added: "I know what he'd (Plotner) tell you: Don't spend any money unless you absolutely have to; we're going to need it for next year. We're in arrears a little over $300,000 now in tax collects, so keep all your expenditures as low as possible."

City will not reimburse workers' comp-related mileage

Alderman Nathan Turner is the chair of the streets and alleys committee. As such it is his responsibility to review bills submitted for payment by that department.

About a month ago, Turner pulled a bill for mileage reimbursement to a city employee.

When he investigated the bill, he found that the request for a payment of approximately $200 was for mileage reimbursement when the employee had been required to see a workers' compensation-approved doctor in Springfield in regard to injuries sustained on the job.

At last Tuesday night's committee-of-the-whole meeting, Turner said he felt the bill was justified. However, not everyone agreed. In the end Busby said that instead of putting the bill back in the stack to be approved under the consent agenda, he wanted to have a separate motion and have the council vote on it.

Monday night when Turner made the motion to approve the payment, he received no second and the motion died on the table.

Busby immediately revised the motion, saying, "I move to deny this reimbursement for mileage."

The motion was seconded by Alderman David Armbrust. The motion had to go this way because no one was willing to second Turner's motion; therefore, there was no opportunity to vote that motion down.

During discussion, Bates said that this needed to be clarified. The city of Lincoln did not order this person to go to a special doctor; therefore, the city wasn't responsible.

When called to a vote, Busby's new motion passed with a vote of 8-1. Turner voted no.

Liquor license amended

By unanimous vote, the city code for a Class D liquor license was amended to include sale of wine by the glass or bottle for consumption on the seller's premises.

This change is the result of a new business, the Owl's Roost, coming into Lincoln. The bookstore and coffee bar wishes to sell wine by the glass or open bottle to their patrons.

The license prohibits customers from removing a partially consumed or opened bottle from the business establishment.

City reverts to Ameren franchise agreement

In 1970 the city signed a franchise agreement with Ameren that would permit the city to have electric service to five locations, including City Hall, free of charge.

When a new and separate contract agreement was signed with Mid-American Energy in May, that company took over the five locations by mistake, thus breaking the franchise agreement with Ameren.

This was discussed at length at last Tuesday's workshop meeting, and there it was agreed that a motion would be made to revert to the original franchise agreement.

At the Monday night meeting Busby explained the situation briefly, then made the motion.

During discussion city waste treatment manager Bob Tackett said that he had heard from Ameren that the rebate proposed last week in the amount of $15,000 had been raised to $16,750.

Snyder asked Busby if the new figure would have an effect on the motion, and Busby said no.

The motion was approved 9-0.

In addition there was discussion between Busby and Bates regarding trying to reclaim the dollars paid to Ameren due to the erroneous switch. Bates will pursue trying to get a refund.

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City adopts new guidelines for replacing brick sidewalks

The sidewalk committee submitted new guidelines for approval regarding the repair or replacement of brick sidewalks.

The new guidelines state that the city will in the future replace brick sidewalks with concrete. If homeowners wish to have the sidewalk restored to brick, they will have to do so themselves. The city will then inspect their work and reimburse them for the cost the city would have incurred had they used concrete.

The exact amended policy is as follows:

Rather than continue our current practice of patching, we will remove the brick and install a new concrete ADA compliant surface.

Before a petition will be considered the walk must be relatively free of overgrowth so the City may inspect it. Replacement for cosmetic purposes is not a valid reason for replacement or reimbursement at the expense of the City of Lincoln.

If the homeowner or petitioner wants to retain brick he or she must do so at their own expense, if the petition is approved, and the city will reimburse at concrete rates. (Quantity of work to be done and quality of work completed subject to inspection and approval by the City of Lincoln Street Superintendent)

During discussion Snyder wondered what the procedure would now be for those who have already asked for brick sidewalk work and been denied.

Committee chairman Armbrust said that those who had previously applied were invited to resubmit their requests. Those requests will then be considered on the basis of the newly adopted guidelines.

Bates wondered if the committee had considered going back to these old requests and giving them priority over the one that was going to come up on this week's agenda.

Armbrust said no, it had not been considered. He explained that some were denied not just because they were brick, but also because they weren't cleaned off so that the city could inspect them.

He added that on a list of approved repair and replacement, the city won't separate the brick walks from all the others. Each request will be considered as it comes in.

Armbrust also noted that with the city's finances in the shape they are, there isn't going to be much money available for this kind of work this year. Many of the requests, even if approved, will still have to wait until next year for the work to actually be done.

The new policy was approved with a unanimous vote.

Mayor authorized to sign enterprise zone documents

When the Rail Splitter Wind Farm was added to the enterprise zone, the company said that they might not need all the acreage they were requesting. Now that the wind farm is completed, they are returning 0.1943 square mile that was not needed.

This return of acreage means that the city now has more to offer any future businesses that may request enterprise zone space.

In order for the city to reclaim this available space, three documents must be filed with the state of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. By unanimous vote the mayor was given authority to sign and submit those forms.

City approves CSO equipment purchase

Tackett had requested and was given permission to purchase combined sewer overflow monitoring equipment from ELAN Technologies at a cost of $37,100.

This equipment will be used for sampling of wastewater overflows according to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Act of 1997.

During discussion it was noted that this was an unfunded mandate. The city is required to do this testing but will receive no financial help from the state for the purchase of the special monitoring equipment.

It was also noted that this expenditure was included in the fiscal budget for this year.

Petition for sidewalk repair approved

A petition from Tim Aper for sidewalk repair at 208 and 216 Third St. was approved unanimously. This petition is for work to be done on a brick sidewalk.

Proclamation regarding the city's official Christmas ornament

Main Street Lincoln submitted a request for a proclamation too late to be placed on the Monday night agenda.

The proclamation relates to this year's official city of Lincoln Christmas ornament and is part of the purchase agreement with the company that makes the item.

The mayor advised the council that he was going to sign the proclamation and send it on to Wanda Lee Rohlfs of Main Street Lincoln, providing no one objected.

There were no objections to the mayor taking this action.

Toys for Tots

Before ending the evening, Snyder said he wanted to point out that City Hall has a receptacle downstairs for Toys for Tots. He said that anyone wishing to could place new, unwrapped toys in the bin for later distribution to local children in need.

On the road again

Nest Tuesday night's committee-of-the-whole meeting will be hosted by Ward 1 Alderwomen Anderson and Bacon. The meeting will be at the Lincoln Rural Fire Department.

[By NILA SMITH]

  

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