Gering city administration and council members Tuesday morning started hashing out the framework for the next fiscal budget during a workshop at city hall.
A modest increase in rates for some city services was discussed as a means to allow the city to set aside funds and plan for larger, multi-million dollar capital improvement projects in the future, such as electric substation upgrades, and street milling and overlay projects, where additional funds would be required for debt service if needed.
Mayor Tony Kaufman noted the proposal from interim Finance Director Liz Loutzenhiser would focus capital outlays on replacing aging equipment that’s becoming more expensive to maintain. “Rolling fleets need some attention, and really, the ability to tweak some of our enterprises as projected today, will allow us to take care of our rolling stocks with cash as we go forward,” said Kaufman, “which, in a business like this, is an important activity to do. And we’ve been slowly building to that point, and we’re finally there with the team we have in place.”
As presented, sanitation, water and wastewater fees would rise for most customers, while other utility rates may drop lower.
Kaufman says for a number of years the city has tried to do more with less to help out city residents, but officials also need to be able to right-size the government to provide services they want and need. “We’ve been able to hold the line and absorb those costs, because we know our constituents have had rising costs, and the City has tried to do what we can doing more with less, but you can only do that to a certain point. And we’re all experiencing inflation, and we’re really experiencing that in some of the services we provide. So, we have to get to right-sizing some of our funds, and just doing the right business activities.”
The Mayor said he was pleased with the work of Loutzenhiser, City Administrator Pat Heath and all Department Heads for putting forward proposals the council can work with. Work will continue on refining the details in the budget, with officials awaiting word on certified valuations in the city before they start finalizing the spending document.
