August 23rd Budget Session Update

Tonight’s budget work session made some movement on the 2007 budget. My proposal to use liquor store funds and excess revenue collected in 2005 to lower taxes was partially accepted tonight. This was flatly refused at the last Council meeting.

Council Member Johnson proposed to use $65,000 from the liquor fund and $65,000 from the excess revenue totaling $130,000. This will mean a 1% tax increase to Isanti’s property tax levy. The budget will be a 6% increase on top of last years 30% plus increase if this stands. The Mayor made an odd comment that he thought this would play well in the papers. I hope we are not setting budgets with this goal in mind.

I also take into consideration the hidden tax increase we all have experienced, higher assessments. Each year that the assessed value of our homes increase, we pay more in taxes. It is possible that even if the tax levy stays the same, we could pay more in taxes if the assessment goes up. My own home has had its assessed value increase by over 20% in the last few years.

I believe we need to have a combined $300,000 from these two sources. Please read http://georgewimmer.blogspot.com/2006/08/august-15th-council-update.html for more information on my budget position. We have added a few more cost needing to increase the transfer to $300,000. The liquor store fund currently has a cash balance of $820,000. Please refer to the above link for more details. The revenue transfer is only part of the solution.

$70,000 roughly of budget reductions have been agreed to as you can read at the link above. We still need to reduce the public works budget by a further $15,000. Last years budget had a tremendous increase in public works equipment budget. This needs to be paired down this year as our financial resources tighten.

There are structural issues with the budget that will cause problems for years to come. The City’s debt payments will increase by 18% in this budget, consuming 14% of the total. This is the second largest expense in Isanti’s budget. In 2001 when I moved to Isanti the City’s per capita debt was $400. Today it is $2500 per person. The city’s population increased by 100% yet our debt has increased by over 500% in the same time period. This will limit Isanti’s ability to do important public projects.

One such project is the straightening of Credit Union Drive. This is project number 1. When McDonalds is built at the intersection of 5 and 65 it will be using the current gas station entrance and exit. This will become incredibly dangerous with the extra traffic generation. By straightening Credit Union Drive we can add a safer in and out on highway 5. Another benefit would be to line up Credit Union Drive and create a north/south signalized intersection by the grocery store. It is important to have a safe crossing by the grocery store. This will never happen if long range planning is not used.

Isanti has to make tough decisions and plan for the future. If we do not do long term financial planning and prepare a capital improvement plan we will sink in debt and high taxes.

If the housing market stays flat or slows further, Isanti’s budget issues will only get worse in years to come. Plan Plan Plan……I know I say it all the time but it is desperately needed so we may be prepared for whatever comes our way.

The preliminary levy will be set at the September 5th Council Meeting. This is important since the final budget is not set until after the November 7th election.

As always I will keep you posted.