The City of Clinton has added $3.6 Million to its General Fund/Utility Fund budget over the past two years.
“Is that sustainable?” asked Mayor Pro-team Ronnie Roth during Monday’s called meeting to give next year’s budget a final approval. His comment came in consideration of the fact that taxes, water and sewer rates, and garbage fees are increasing for the city’s under 8,000 residents to balance the budget.
Finance Director Carl Stevens said the figures are sustainable because the city is taking a realistic path to balancing its budget - no longer, he said, will be budget be submitted with “hoped for” numbers, but with realistic expectations based on data. The FY 24-25 is a $33.575M document, according to the city’s ad for the June 17 public hearing and final approval. That’s 5.43% higher than the year before - council was told this is an “accurate and conservative budget.”
No one spoke pro or con at the legally required public hearing.
“We are right on point from what we projected. We have the financials back on track,” Mayor Randy Randall said.
Council members were stunned this year when they realized that a fund dedicated to keeping electric rates stable was used in the past to pay normal, budgeted bills. That practice has been ended (without council approval), and an audit has determined which bills were paid. The City will receive a 2023 audit on July 1, and its 2024 audit in late October/early November, council was told.
After a question from Council Member Anita Williams about “incidental expenses” was answered, Mayor Randall said, “I’m confident in our budgeting process. I’m confident in out budgeting staff.”
Stevens said the budget as presented on first reading required some tweaking, after it was discovered that some salaries did not “transfer over” to the document. He outlined items such as property taxes collected, vehicle taxes, interest income, the fire contract with the county, and equipment purchases that got the budget back on track.
The City’s published budget figures show an increase from $31,845,345 in the current fiscal year to the projected $33,575,058 for FY24-25. Tax milage rises from 128.6 to 131.3, a 2.10% increase. Council could have enacted a tax hike twice that size without a referendum (based on state law and the rate of inflation) but chose not to. Sewer rates are rising by 10%; water rates are rising by 7%; and garbage fees are increasing by $4.13/month.
The City also is imposing a new fee on property owners who have large items for disposal, such as furniture, mattresses, appliances and construction debris, at curbside for city pickup.
There was some discussion about what happens with someone else dumps this debris in front of another person’s house, or an abandoned house. City Manager Tom Brooks said those issues could be worked out with house-based cameras, reported to police, and monitoring on the regular trash routes. He said paying the city fee to have this stuff hauled off is still cheaper and less aggravating that loading it on a trailer and carting it to the county dump.
About the budget, Williams said, “We need to make sure we are digging deep and saving where we need to save. We have places we can cut. I’m approving of the budget but we need to look where we can cut spending. I am looking forward to getting the animal control truck, to protect our citizens.”
Expanded Animal Control is designated as a $170,000 expense in the next budget.
The Council also was informed of a potential future expense.
The City has put itself in the running for a $7.1 Million grant to construct an electrical substation behind Rosemont Cemetery.
It’s part of a federal defense program to strengthen the grid around military facilities - this substation would serve the Clinton National Guard Armory.
It’s also in a growth area that could include 14-year-old Clinton High School, a townhouses project proposed for Hwy 56 and Springdale Drive, where dirt is being moved; and the still-under-construction Recreation Center going between Clinton Presbyterian Community and Interstate-26.
Because Clinton is a rural community, it is not required to match the grant by 30%; however, the City is committing $373,250 toward design costs.
The money will come from the electrical Rate Stabilization Fund.
This grant, if the city is successful, would come from the Defense Community Infrastructure Program and would be called the Clinton Armory Grid Resilience and Expansion Project. Through the Department of Defense Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, the project has financed $550.2M in projects in just the past three years.
Overall, Clinton’s project would cost an estimated $7,518,000, a city document says.
