Big-ticket projects questioned
As they look for ways to wrestle down a projected $8.7 million budget deficit, Lincoln City Council members suggested Monday that the city might have to delay or cancel some of the items on its growing list of big-ticket projects.
That seemed to be the consensus during a Monday morning budget "work session" in which the council gave its input on how the city should deal with a projected $8.7 million budget gap for the 2005-2006 budget.
The council's guidance will be used to give instructions to city departments before managers submit budget requests to the mayor.
In order to fund current services plus $3.7 million in new proposed spending (including more police officers and firefighters), the city would have to increase its property tax rate by 25 percent, according to city budget officials.
The council appeared consigned to the need to delay $3.3 million in capital improvement projects, to say no to new programs and to scrutinize the budget as a whole.
"We've got a lot of items on our plate," said Councilman Jon Camp. "We can't do it all. We'll choke."
Councilwoman Patte Newman read off what she described as a "huge list" of projects the city has in the pipeline and said they add up to $43 million, not counting talk of a new 12,000-seat arena and convention center, a Haymarket improvement project and revitalization of the 48th and O streets area.
Councilman Jonathan Cook said "a lot of little decisions" by councils over the years have added up to "a lot of projects (that) are taking sizeable chunks of money."
He said the council is now faced with cutting basic services to accommodate capital improvement projects and said the city has to decide what it can afford when it comes to "grand new projects."
"I have a hard time putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into parks and trails along Antelope Valley when we can't even afford to keep our fountains running," he said. "That's pathetic."
He said the Antelope Valley project, a flood control, transportation and urban revitalization plan for the Antelope Creek watershed in the core of Lincoln, was approved with an expectation of federal funding levels that haven't materialized.
"We've got to re-evaluate where we are with that," he said, suggesting the city look at delaying its implementation schedule. "I know there's a fear that we shouldn't talk about that, but I think we need to … I just think we've got to look at those huge projects first."
Councilman Ken Svoboda questioned the effect of delaying capital improvement projects such as Antelope Valley and 48th and O.
"We do have an option of saying, ‘Stop,'" said Councilman Terry Werner.
The council discussed other revenue sources, such as a tax on properties that will benefit from the deletion of a flood plain.
Werner suggested the possibility that a bond issue for Antelope Valley be put before voters, but Councilwoman Annette McRoy said Lincoln residents have already voted to approve the plan, and the city shouldn't create another Northeast Radial, in which the city bought property for a freeway that never materialized.
With personnel costs accounting for 70 percent of the city's costs, and 45 percent of those people working in public safety, Councilman Glenn Friendt said, "I don't think that the police department or fire department should be hands-off (protected)" from scrutiny, nor libraries or swimming pools.
"We're finally pushed to a point where everything has to be on the table," Friendt said. "We cannot solve this problem without trimming people."
Camp renewed his call for an examination of the performance of public safety entities, the hiring of an independent auditor to help find efficiencies and an end to underfunding the police pension fund.
Svoboda said all city departments should be reviewed, not just the police and fire departments, even though they make up the bulk of city employees.
Lincoln Budget Officer Steve Hubka pointed out, however, that while the city's population has grown almost 23 percent and the city itself has grown more than 28 percent in square miles, the city's number of full-time employees has grown about 4 percent since 1990.
Mayor Coleen Seng sat in on the brainstorming session, and although the council appeared ready to delay or cancel some of her pet projects, she complimented the council for its teamwork, saying it was the best work session she'd seen in years.
"I appreciate what you're doing because these are tough issues," she said.
Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.
That seemed to be the consensus during a Monday morning budget "work session" in which the council gave its input on how the city should deal with a projected $8.7 million budget gap for the 2005-2006 budget.
The council's guidance will be used to give instructions to city departments before managers submit budget requests to the mayor.
In order to fund current services plus $3.7 million in new proposed spending (including more police officers and firefighters), the city would have to increase its property tax rate by 25 percent, according to city budget officials.
The council appeared consigned to the need to delay $3.3 million in capital improvement projects, to say no to new programs and to scrutinize the budget as a whole.
"We've got a lot of items on our plate," said Councilman Jon Camp. "We can't do it all. We'll choke."
Councilwoman Patte Newman read off what she described as a "huge list" of projects the city has in the pipeline and said they add up to $43 million, not counting talk of a new 12,000-seat arena and convention center, a Haymarket improvement project and revitalization of the 48th and O streets area.
Councilman Jonathan Cook said "a lot of little decisions" by councils over the years have added up to "a lot of projects (that) are taking sizeable chunks of money."
He said the council is now faced with cutting basic services to accommodate capital improvement projects and said the city has to decide what it can afford when it comes to "grand new projects."
"I have a hard time putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into parks and trails along Antelope Valley when we can't even afford to keep our fountains running," he said. "That's pathetic."
He said the Antelope Valley project, a flood control, transportation and urban revitalization plan for the Antelope Creek watershed in the core of Lincoln, was approved with an expectation of federal funding levels that haven't materialized.
"We've got to re-evaluate where we are with that," he said, suggesting the city look at delaying its implementation schedule. "I know there's a fear that we shouldn't talk about that, but I think we need to … I just think we've got to look at those huge projects first."
Councilman Ken Svoboda questioned the effect of delaying capital improvement projects such as Antelope Valley and 48th and O.
"We do have an option of saying, ‘Stop,'" said Councilman Terry Werner.
The council discussed other revenue sources, such as a tax on properties that will benefit from the deletion of a flood plain.
Werner suggested the possibility that a bond issue for Antelope Valley be put before voters, but Councilwoman Annette McRoy said Lincoln residents have already voted to approve the plan, and the city shouldn't create another Northeast Radial, in which the city bought property for a freeway that never materialized.
With personnel costs accounting for 70 percent of the city's costs, and 45 percent of those people working in public safety, Councilman Glenn Friendt said, "I don't think that the police department or fire department should be hands-off (protected)" from scrutiny, nor libraries or swimming pools.
"We're finally pushed to a point where everything has to be on the table," Friendt said. "We cannot solve this problem without trimming people."
Camp renewed his call for an examination of the performance of public safety entities, the hiring of an independent auditor to help find efficiencies and an end to underfunding the police pension fund.
Svoboda said all city departments should be reviewed, not just the police and fire departments, even though they make up the bulk of city employees.
Lincoln Budget Officer Steve Hubka pointed out, however, that while the city's population has grown almost 23 percent and the city itself has grown more than 28 percent in square miles, the city's number of full-time employees has grown about 4 percent since 1990.
Mayor Coleen Seng sat in on the brainstorming session, and although the council appeared ready to delay or cancel some of her pet projects, she complimented the council for its teamwork, saying it was the best work session she'd seen in years.
"I appreciate what you're doing because these are tough issues," she said.
Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.
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