City looking at 4% levy increase for 2021
Before making a decision, council members heard from department heads about their budget needs in the coming year.
Police Chief
The police force also needs to replace two of its marked squad cars next year, which is a significant budget expense.
Public Works Director
Wietzema noted that his department needs to replace a pickup truck, but after it's ordered in January, it will be 16 months out. Payment is collected upon delivery -- so the truck will not actually be purchased until 2022 -- but if the city starts budgeting for it this year, then the money will already be raised by that time.
The department hopes to save some money by decommissioning the Public Works facility on
"I'd like to shift the conversation from what we're buying to what we're doing," he said.
While line-item budgeting is helpful and important, having a visual of how the city and each department spends its money can also be a good tool when considering the annual budget, Brisson said. He introduced the council to the idea of program budgeting, which breaks down in a pie chart how money is being allocated.
"This is a way of disrupting the status quo if the status quo's not working," he said.
For example, in his department, Brisson showed that last year, less than 1% of the budget was spent on economic development, and none on community development. Department heads and council members can consider where they would like those percentages to be, and then make a line-item budget that reflects those priorities.
"I don't want to compare with other cities -- I want to be a leader in southwest
Council members were open to the idea, but wanted to see more. Council member
When it came time for a vote, the council was unanimously in support of raising the tax levy by 4% (about
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