Special City Council Meeting
City Hall, Cherokee, Iowa
February 7, 2008 6:00 P.M.
A special meeting was called to order on this date by
Mayor Pro-Tem Leach. Present:
Councilmembers
Burkhart, Mallory, Peck, Stieneke, Clerk-Treasurer Taylor.
Absent: Mayor Henrich.
The council continued review of
the 2008-09 budget. Terry Graybill,
County Supervisor, 543 Bailey Court,
referred to the fire department issue that seems to come up every year at budget
time. He said, looking to
the future, there could be a real shortage of volunteers as requirements are
becoming more difficult. He
indicated that the County Board of Supervisors gave money to the Larrabee and
Quimby Fire Departments
to keep their stations and equipment up to date to hopefully keep and entice
younger people to become
volunteers. Terry related a recent
incident in their neighborhood and said his wife was impressed by how
quickly the fire department arrived.
The council reviewed the budgets
for City Council, Mayor & Administrator, Financial Administration, Legal
Services and City Hall. The Clerk
explained that the fee paid to Clarence Krepps has been charged to the
City Council budget, but could be split among water, sewer, road use and general
funds. The Mayor &
Administrator budget includes a salary for a City Manager; however, there is
offsetting revenue from water,
sewer and road use to pay 3/4 of the salary, which leaves $18,750 coming from
general fund. The City Hall
budget includes funding to upgrade the city hall phone system, which is almost
20 years old.
Councilmember Burkhart said she
had gone through the budget and said there is not a lot of fluff anywhere.
Her suggested cuts included: Police
Department $4,092 from overtime; $200 from allowances; $500 from
office equipment. Fire Department $500 from office equipment; $600 from
office supplies; Building
nspection suggested that the duties of the building inspector be handled by
a current full-time employee, which
could save $3,500; Animal Control $300; Recreation $2,500 from office
furniture; Pool $10,000 from
utilities; and Park $10,000 for east bottom road repair.
These proposed cuts total $32,192. The
Clerk
passed out a report showing some of these same proposed cuts, along with
suggested revenue increases
and a freeze on some of the items in the current budget. The Clerks proposal also included using Hotel/Motel
Tax for city projects rather than contributing a portion of the tax to CAEDC and
the Chamber of Commerce,
and using a portion of the Emergency Fund levy as general fund revenue.
These suggestions would balance
the General Fund and leave a $25,000-$30,000 reserve.
None of the suggestions presented would eliminate
any full-time positions. The
council discussed the possibility of having to delay or eliminate the purchase
of a
skid loader for the Park Department. As
presented, the Park budget includes a $4,335 lease payment for the
next 5 years to pay for the skid loader. The
council will continue review of the budget at the regular council
meeting on Tuesday, February 12.
A motion by Councilmember Stieneke, seconded by Peck, adjourned the meeting at 7:25 p.m. Motion carried.
ATTEST:
Debra Taylor, CMC
City Clerk-Treasurer