 New hires approved if...In motions from Alderwoman Kathy
Horn on behalf of the fire department and Alderman Jeff Hoinacki on
behalf of the police department, each requested the approval of one
new hire for their respective departments but stipulated the hiring
could not be done until after July 1.
The stipulation was added to the motions due to financial
uncertainty on the state level.
In recent weeks Gov. Pat Quinn has come up with a plan to save
the state billions of dollars by doing away with state income tax
disbursements to municipalities.
Across the state, municipalities including the city of Lincoln
are launching protests to this action, as it will have dire effects
on their ability to run their local governments.
Mayor Keith Snyder commented on this last night, saying that if
state legislators go forward with this plan, it will cost the city
of Lincoln $1.2 million in revenues that go directly to the city's
general operation fund. Payroll comes from that fund.
Snyder has said in past weeks that such a cut would leave the
city with some hard decisions to make regarding staff and services,
with cuts to various departments inevitable.
Snyder also commented Monday night that there is an alternate
plan on the table at the state level that would cut funding to
cities by 30 percent. This, he said, would equate to $340,000 in
lost revenue.
If either of these two proposals passes on the state level, the
decision to add new hires to the fire and police departments may
have to be reversed.
The state will begin its new fiscal year July 1, and it is hoped
that there will be a working budget by that time. The decision of
whether or not to cut and how much to cut from disbursements to
municipalities will be decided in connection with that new budget.
When the two motions came to a vote, both passed with votes of
6-2 with Aldermen Buzz Busby and David Armbrust voting "no."
During the city's budget-building process in March, money was
added to the fire and police budgets for new hires. Busby said then
that he would not vote in favor of new hires for those departments
until the city had also approved new hires for the street
department. In the city's new fiscal year budget, no dollars were
allotted for new hires for the street department.
State dollars slowing once again
City Treasurer Chuck Conzo delivered his report for April and
accented it with a warning that the state is once again slowing down
on its reimbursements to the city.
The state disburses several tax amounts to the city of Lincoln on
what is supposed to be a monthly basis. Over the last two years,
those disbursements, which are supposed to come to the city within
60 to 90 days of their collection by the state, have slowed to a
mere trickle at times, with the state falling four, five and six
months behind in making payments.
The state did beef up the payment schedule a bit last year at the
beginning of its fiscal year, but now, as the state's year nears its
close, it appears that the money is running out again, and they are
withholding disbursements to the city.
Conzo noted in particular the state income tax disbursements,
saying the payment the city received in April was for taxes
collected in December, meaning the state is four months behind in
payments.
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On a brighter note, Conzo handed out a spreadsheet showing
comparative sales tax collections over the last five years. The
city's share of sales tax collected for the calendar year 2010
exceeds 2009 by $223,997.66.
The figures Conzo provided are as
follows:
-
In 2006 the city
collected $2,292,133.81.
-
In 2007 the city
collected $2,548,812.14.
-
In 2008 the city
collected $2,642,584.60.
-
In 2009 the city
collected $2,501,107.74.
-
In 2010 the city collected
$2,725,105.40.
He also reported that the cash values of portions of the police
and fire pension funds are up slightly.
A portion of firemen's pension fund is invested in annuities and
portions of the police pension are invested in CD ladders and mutual
funds. The value of these funds is driven by interest rates and
stock market values. With slight increases in market trading in
general, the value of the investments has gone up.
New budget year, new sidewalk repairs
In the last few months of the old fiscal year, the council had to
stop taking requests for sidewalk repairs, due to a lack of money in
the budget.
With the city's new fiscal year beginning May 1, there is once
again money for sidewalks, and two requests for such work were
submitted and approved this week.
Motion on collection agency tabled
On the agenda for Monday night was a motion to approve hiring
Midwest Credit Collections to take on some of the city's delinquent
sewer accounts.
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel asked that the motion be tabled.
A few minutes later, during the public announcement portion of
the meeting, she told aldermen that they would be hearing from the
city's sewer billing clerks, who have an idea they would like the
council to consider about the collection of delinquent accounts.
[By NILA SMITH]
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