Council must consider future of municipal buildings
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
The lingering specter of July’s flood will have considerable influence on the City of Burlington’s municipal budget process this fall, according to City Administrator Carina Walters.
Not only will officials be forced to deal with an estimated $2 million in expenses related to the flood, they will have to consider the vulnerability of city buildings in the wake of the rampaging water on July 11 and 12, according to Walters.
“The (Common) Council is going to have to wrestle, long-term, with what to do with City Hall and the police department related to flooding,” Walters said.
Both buildings – on Jefferson Street between Pine and Dodge streets – flooded and were rendered unusable at a time they were needed most.
The police station, which is a relatively modern building in comparison to City Hall, suffered from several feet of water on the lower level that destroyed the city’s emergency dispatching system.
However, the first order of business related to the flood will be paying for the damaged infrastructure and flood cleanup throughout the city, Walters said.
The city is working with its financial consultant – Ehlers Inc. – to determine what borrowing options will best serve the city.
Walters said the city received $100,000 from its insurer and has spent about $60,000 on flood-related expenses so far.
However, she said, many of the bills have not yet come due and the city will have to be prepared to pay the rest of the $2 million in the near future.
Future needs
The bigger challenge facing the Common Council is deciding the best course of action for the future when it comes to addressing the city’s building needs.
“We need to look at short-term and long-term expenses and (see) how they affect the future,” Walters said.
Before the flood asserted it’s influence, the city was already into the process of planning to replace City Hall and decide the future of the aging library building on the opposite site of Pine Street.
The Common Council recently withdrew an offer to purchase a potential building site at the corner of Jefferson and Main streets.
In an interview on Tuesday, Walters described City Hall as a long-term decision, but noted it’s likely to come to the forefront in the 2018-19 budget cycles.
Relatively good shape
Despite the challenges created by the flood and building needs, Walters said the city remains in good shape financially.
There are several factors working in the city’s favor – most notably the improved economy, which has resulted in a growing tax base, and the pending retirement of the tax incremental financing district associated with much of the downtown riverfront redevelopment.
Both will create an influx of tax revenue for the city to work with.
Walters said she believes the city is “on target” to produce a budget that will come in with a tax rate at or below the current budget.
The 2017 budget carried a tax rate $8.95 per $1,000 of property value, which was down 17 cents from 2016. City Treasurer Steve DeQuaker attributed that decline mainly to the citywide increase in property value.
How well the city holds the line on property taxes this year will again be determined on the council’s “expenditure restraint,” Walters said.
When it comes to fixed and personnel expenses, the city is “very lean right now,” she said. “I don’t know how much more we can cut without cutting to the bone.”
The budget process
Walters said the budget for next year is in its infancy now as she and DeQuaker work with department heads to develop the initial proposal for the council to consider.
The budget process typically begins in summer with sessions dubbed the Citizen Budget Partners. A panel of city residents is invited to learn about the budgeting process and then provides feedback on spending priorities.
This year’s sessions, however, were cancelled as the city focused its efforts on flood recovery.
“(But) we’re definitely going to resume it,” Walters said.
The impactful decisions will be made beginning in October with a series of budget workshops for the Common Council.
Sessions have been scheduled for Oct. 11 and 18 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Department of Public Works facility on South Pine Street. A third session could be scheduled for the first week of November, if needed, Walters said.
The budget workshops are open to the public.
Once the Common Council addresses the policy questions that impact the budget, the city has about a month to prepare the final budget for approval, which usually occurs in late November or early December.
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