Chart accompanying proposed FY 2009 City of Bay City Budget shows expenditures per capita.
City Manager, Commission Chewing On $133 Million Budget For Another Week
Employment, Capital Projects, Operational Costs All Reduced
May 1, 2008
By: Dave Rogers
Challenges and opportunities are a major item listed by City Manager Robert V. Belleman in the $133 million 2009 Fiscal Year Budget now under consideration by commissioners and staff.
Budget workshops will continue through May 7 as the city faces unprecedented financing problems such as unfunded liability for retiree health care of $126 million.
Another area of concern is a $25.6 million unfunded liability in the Municipal Employees Retirement System (MERS), according to the manager.
"The city must remain committed to long-term strategic planning efforts, which includes making unpopular decisions as it relates to rate increases or adjustments in our levels of service," the manager warned.
Partnerships and improved technology will be continually explored, he said.
In an effort to save money in the fire department budget, agreement was reached with fire fighters to study a paid on-call system. But even that is estimated to cost $140,000 to implement.
Aging infrastructure such as streets, sidewalks and sewers are being dealt with mainly through federal and state grants and low interest loans. "However, even with these projects, the city's road infrastructure is in dire need of immediate attention," he said.
The majority of the city's nearly 200 miles of roads are asphalt and were built before 1980, he said. Minimum bonding needed to repair 136 miles of roads is $86 million and the manager said a reliable revenue source is needed to fund future road projects. "Our current funding and maintenance method will not allow us to make significant progress and our roads will get worse," he commented in a memo to commissioners.
Improvements necessary for the water system over 15 years are estimated at $25.8 million, according to consultant Malcolm Pirnie. The FY 2009 budget includes replacement of a transmission main at $2 million in connection with the North Henry Street reconstruction.
The city has nearly 200 miles of water mains, for which improvements are included in the budget, and the sewer collection system is exceeding 50 years service life and will require a long term maintenance program "that ensures the integrity of this collection system and avoids catastrophic failures," according to the manager.
Rate increases in the electric department, recently approved, are driven by increased costs of purchased power, and a necessary $1-2 million a year cost of capital improvements are necessitating rate increases to customers, he said.
The city has leveraged a Michigan Department of Transportation grant of $2,168,000 through a local match of $108,400 to repair the city's two bascule bridges and the parks department has been successful in seeking grants through the Bay Area Community Foundation for improvements to parks and the Riverwalk/Railtrail system. State grants have been received for James Clements Airport.###