Archives Article 2
Commercial News March 29, 2008
City proposed budget up for review
Plan still includes
firefighter cuts
BY JENNIFER
BAILEY
DANVILLE — A public
hearing on the city’s proposed 2008-09
budget, with a general fund of more than
$22 million for day-to-day operations,
will occur Tuesday night.
The budget then will be placed on file
for public review, prior to the city
council taking final action on it April
15. The new budget will take effect May
1.
The budget still includes cutting nine
firefighters, less funding for
Renaissance Danville, salary raises,
lower projections for state and city
sales tax and other revenues, increased
cost estimates for gasoline and
electricity and increases in revenues
for ordinance violations and police
tows.
Firefighters still are trying to
convince aldermen and find alternatives
to cutting nine firefighter positions.
One proposal is to charge for fire
service responses, including $300 for
responding to a building fire.
Ward 5 Alderman Mike Puhr also has
suggested a 15 percent personnel
reduction across the board with city
departments.
He’s concerned that fire department
staffing already is at a minimum.
“I think this is a wake-up call for all
departments,” Ward 4 Alderwoman Nancy
O’Kane said.
O’Kane pointed out that despite a
smaller population, the city still has
12,790 structures, 11,545 of those being
residences. Since 1998, the city has
demolished 467 structures.
“That’s a lot of structures
(firefighters) have to protect,” she
said.
Renaissance Danville board president
Thom Pollock also has asked aldermen
that if they can’t restore the $50,000
cut in funding to the organization this
year, hopefully the $130,000 will be
back in the city’s budget next fiscal
year.
“Revitalization pays dividends through
tax revenue,” he reminded aldermen last
week.
O’Kane said she’d like to see a business
plan from Renaissance to see how they
plan to spend the money the city gives
the group, and where all its money goes.
In other business, the council will
consider approving budget amendments
totaling about $248,000 to come out of
the city’s general fund reserve.
Officials project the city ending this
fiscal year with $711,911 at the end of
April.
Increases included: $5,000 for the
Illinois Main Street conference, $54,300
in telephone costs with a new phone
lease, $65,000 in increased salary costs
such as for retirement payouts and
longevity raises, $39,700 in gasoline
costs and $72,500 in overtime costs,
such as for retirements and injuries.
The police department had three
retirements, work related injuries and
other incidents that created more
overtime than budgeted.
There also was a $1,800 increase in
travel and expenses in the public
affairs budget due to Mayor Scott
Eisenhauer being an Illinois Municipal
League officer and being required to
attend certain meetings.
“Gasoline is absolutely killing us,”
Eisenhauer said.
The city’s new budget increases gasoline
cost projections, and employees have
been told not to let city vehicles run
idling for a long time, he said.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Danville City Council will meet at 6
p.m. Tuesday at the Robert E. Jones
Municipal Building, 17 W. Main St.
The special community informational
meeting to discuss the proposed
firefighter cuts has been rescheduled
for 6 p.m. Monday at fire station No. 3,
1111 N. Griffin St.
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