City passes budget with no changes
With very little discussion, the Hillsboro City Council approved its 2003 budget during Tuesday evening's meeting.
No changes were made on the original budget, which was first published in the Star-Journal in its Aug. 1 edition.
As required by law, the city held a public hearing on Monday, Aug. 12, to hear concerns from Hillsboro residents about any aspect of the budget.
In last week's issue, the Star-Journal reported that the Council approved the 2003 budget at the hearing. This was an error — the Council did not approve the budget at that time.
Several area businesspeople were on hand at the hearing to protest cuts made to economic development and museum funding. The funds discussed were cut from the "ad valorem" taxes the city receives.
Under "ad valorem," economic development will lose $10,900, and tourism will lose $7,000.
This cut to economic development will eliminate all ad valorem tax money to that group, but the group still receives funds from a mill levy on the industrial park.
Before the Council made a motion to accept the budget, Council president Len Coryea asked if funds could be transferred from one division to another.
City Administrator Steve Garrett confirmed that the Council could change funding within the budget, as long as the bottom line stayed the same.
With no further comments by the Council, the group unanimously approved the budget.
The budget reduces the mill levy slightly, down to 40.989 mills from last year's 40.977 mills.
Most budget areas stayed the same except for a nearly $20,000 increase in employee benefits due to the rising costs of health insurance.
And at Tuesday's meeting, Garrett told the Council that the insurance costs were going to be even higher than he'd anticipated.
Health insurance rates for city employees are expected to go up 35 percent, Garrett said. That's higher than the 25 percent that he'd planned for.
"They got us this year," Garrett said.
In other Council business:
— Garrett announced that part-time city inspector Kermit Dirksen has left his position, citing health problems.
Dirksen had already planned to retire by the end of 2002, Garrett said.
— The city approved the construction of a master drainage system at the Hillsboro Industrial Park.
Two drainage areas are the issue, said Hillsboro Development Corporation representative Mike Kleiber: One, at the old railroad spur between Industrial and Santa Fe, and two, between Santa Fe and Centennial. Both areas are currently owned by the HDC.
The HDC plans to re-grade the railroad bed in these areas so that drainage runs down the middle. HDC and the adjacent landowners would pay for the dirt work, Kleiber said.
The old drainage areas would be turned into easements, which the city would have final jurisdiction over.
