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Evansville fills gap in its 2010 budget

EVANSVILLE — When city leaders started the 2010 budget process this summer, they faced a $132,000 gap between income and expenses.

But City Administrator Dan Wietecha said the city has produced a balanced budget without raising taxes.

The proposed budget shows a tax levy increase of 0.1 percent while the tax rate would drop 0.9 percent.

The public may comment on the budget at a 6:30 p.m. hearing Tuesday, Nov. 10. The council will consider adopting the budget in its meeting afterward.

Next year's spending will drop about 30 percent from 2009, when the city had to budget for both the wastewater treatment facility and Lake Leota dredging projects.

The $132,000 gap was caused by a drop in revenue from the state and interest earnings and an increase in general fund expenses such as union wages and health insurance.

A freeze in the wages of salaried employees helped close the gap along with an unexpected, one-time drop in payments on the Lake Leota dredging project. The city had planned for about a $35,000 increase. Instead, the payments decreased about $15,000, Wietecha said.

"That helped close the gap to our favor, but it's not a permanent closure," he said.

Officials also reduced some of the proposed capital expenditures, such as replacing one squad car instead of two, he said. The city also won't budget about $25,000 for sidewalk improvements, as has been the case the last couple of years.

Residents shouldn't notice any big changes in services, Wietecha said.

A couple of part-time positions were eliminated, including a public works position and the high school co-op program position, he said. Funding was cut for the youth center by $10,000 and for the senior center by a couple thousand dollars, he said.

A look at the proposed 2010 budget for Evansville:

What's next? A public hearing will be held at the city council meeting Tuesday, Nov. 10, at Evansville City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., and the council will consider adopting the budget.

Total budget

Next year $13.79 million

This year $19.66 million

Decrease 29.8%

Tax levy

Next year $2.14 million

This year $2.13 million

Increase 0.1%

Tax rate

(Per $1,000 of assessed valuation)

Next year $6.90

This year $6.96

Decrease 0.9%

Note: Percent changes calculated on whole numbers.