Saying that the city's budget landscape has been altered, Mayor Chris Beutler on Friday outlined a number of changes in his proposed 2008-2009 city budget at a morning meeting with the City Council.

The changes include transfers totaling $1.7 million from the Special Assessment Revolving Fund to the general fund. The revolving fund, used to create special assessment districts, is rarely used and has accumulated about $10 million.

Beutler released his original budget proposal to the city council July 3. A week later, it was learned Lincoln Electric System was considering a rate hike of up to 12 percent. On Friday, the LES Administrative Board approved a 10.1 percent increase.

As a result, the mayor made changes to his budget plan:

* He proposed using about $1.5 million from the special assessment fund to replace the money that would have come from a one-cent increase in the city’s property tax rate, which he originally proposed earlier in themonth. Beutler withdrew the proposed tax rate increase last week.

*A second transfer of $260,000 to the general fund would cover the increased electricity expense to the city. Beutler also will instruct departments to conserve as much electricity as possible.

About $19,000 from the special assessment fund would be used to preserve hours at library branches. Another $23,000 would be used to preserve staffing for a program serving people with head traumas and mental health issues.

The mayor's budget resolution also includes the transfer of $6.4 million from the special assessment fund to the proposed Fast Forward Trust Fund.

Beutler said the creation of the fund will allow the city to take advantage of economic development efforts. He said initial uses would include a $235,000 impact fee rebate that is owed to ITI and about $200,000 to help start the Development Services Center, a one-stop shop for the review, permitting and inspection of development projects.

What do you think of the mayor's new budget plan?

Nebraska could save more than $102 million a year on health care within five years if more money were invested in disease prevention programs, according to a new, nationwide report.

The report released Thursday by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health says the state would need to invest an additional $10 per resident — an estimated $17.5 million — each year in community-based programs to prevent smoking and increase physical activity and nutrition to see the net savings. Nebraska could see an estimated return of $5.80 for each dollar that’s spent.

The report says disease prevention programs reduce the rates of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancers and other ailments, eliminating or reducing treatment costs down the road.

The investment cited in the report would be on top of what the state already spends on prevention programs.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services already supports such programs, but spokeswoman Marla Augustine said the agency didn’t know exactly how much it spends annually because that money comes from various divisions.

She also couldn’t estimate the savings because of those programs, saying, “It’s difficult to gauge what you prevent.”

Dr. Joann Schaefer, the state’s chief medical officer, said that while the state’s prevention programs reduce future health costs, it’s hard to quantify that savings. The state theoretically pays less in the future than if health conditions go unchecked, but it doesn’t get money back.

Should the state put more money in disease prevention programs?

Consumer prices shot up in June at the second-fastest pace in 26 years with two-thirds of the surge blamed on soaring energy prices.

The Labor Department reported that consumer prices jumped 1.1 percent last month, much worse than had been expected. Energy prices rocketed upward by 6.6 percent, reflecting big gains for gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas.

The big rise in prices cut deeply into consumers' earning power with average weekly wages, after adjusting for inflation, falling by 0.9 percent. It was the biggest monthly decline since a 1.1 percent drop in weekly wages in September 2005.

The 1.1 percent June price increase was the second largest monthly advance in the past 26 years, surpassed only by a 1.3 percent gain in September 2005 from a jolt to energy costs after Hurricane Katrina.

The report on retail inflation followed similarly grim news on Tuesday that wholesale prices had shot up by 1.8 percent in June.

How is inflation affecting you?

Ten of the vacated 23 units in the Thomasbrook apartment fire were uninsured, said Bob Kelley, director of development and communications for the Cornhusker Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross.

On Monday, the Thomasbrook staff continued to help the fire victims.

Maintenance workers zipped back and forth on golf carts, moving salvageable plasma screen TVs, printers and other electronics from the 24-unit building. One unit was vacant at the time of the fire.

Several displaced tenants toured vacant apartments on Monday. The floor plans are smaller than what the burned building offered, but more than half of those affected by the fire are going to move into them,property manager Donna Mann-Tucker said. They want to stay in the complex.

She said the tenants have seen the damage from the outside. On either Wednesday or Thursday, the burned building should be opened up to the residents, pending a safety inspection.

Should landlords require renters' insurance?

The Lincoln City Council is holding a public hearing on the proposed redevelopment of the Rosewood Inn, a vacant eyesore of an old hotel that was partly demolished recently.

The former hotel has sat vacant for years at 2301 N.W. 12th St., where it’s visible from Interstate 80.

Speedway Properties has owned the hotel since 2003 after buying it out of bankruptcy. Prior to their purchase, it had already been vacant for three years.

Now Speedway is proposing to redevelop it into an upscale strip center with retail and office uses as well as a site for a fast-food restaurant.

The council will be asked to approve up to $300,000 in tax increment financing for the $2 million project. TIF is an urban renewal financing tool in which the additional property taxes generated from the redevelopment is used to help pay for the project or public improvements.

In this case, TIF would be used to help rehabilitate the building, build sidewalks, move utilities and other items.

Should the council agree to use TIF financing for redevelopment of the Rosewood Inn?