Dunkirk still looking for ways to cut budget (08/29/06)

DUNKIRK - Ways to trim the city's 2007 proposed budget continue to be studied here.

Clerk-treasurer Jane Kesler presented copies of the lengthy proposal to council members Monday night, and Mayor Sam Hubbard asked each council member to look over every departmental report carefully with an eye toward making reductions.

Hubbard then scheduled a budget review meeting for 7 p.m. Thursday for council members to bring back recommendations and go over the 50-plus page document in more detail.

First reading of the proposed budget and a salary ordinance which grants hourly employees a 2.5 percent pay increase won the approval of council members Monday night in unanimous votes.

Kesler said the 2007 budget proposal totals $1.4 million with $1.2 million earmarked for the city's general fund which pays for most city operations including police and fire service and city hall functions.

The clerk-treasurer explained the city's operating fund surplus has been declining in recent years from roughly $400,000 to $86,000 due to a variety of reasons including decreases in the city's revenue and assessed valuation as well as a costly bookkeeping error by state officials, discovered at the end of last year, which resulted in a large tax refund to Saint-Gobain Containers, the city's largest industry.

Hubbard for a vote on the first of the two required readings for the city budget, pointing out that this means the budget totals may not be increased, but can still be trimmed before final passage which is scheduled for the next regular council meeting at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 in city hall.

"I want to have everyone review this, so we know that nothing's been overlooked as far as making any cuts," Hubbard said.

The salary ordinance creates the new position of water slide attendant at the city pool. This position is now required by the state, councilman Tom Johnson said. The 2007 budget proposes paying the slide attendant $6.81 per hour while paying the head lifeguard $7.90 an hour, and a regular lifeguard $7.64 an hour.

Also at Monday night's meeting council members:

•Approved a new city curfew ordinance which city attorney William Hinkle explained was patterned after an Indianapolis ordinance and meets all constitutional standards.

Hubbard said that Hinkle and Dunkirk police chief Arnold Clevenger have been working together on the new ordinance.

At Monday night's meeting Hubbard asked if the council members wanted to review this three-page proposal and vote on it at their next regular meeting.

However, councilman James Doughty said, " I think this is something the police need immediately," and passage of the ordinance quickly followed. Before it can be enforced, however, it still must be published as a legal advertisement, Hinkle said.

The curfew ordinance states that except for various conditions, "it is unlawful for a child younger than 15 years of age to be in a public place in the city after 11 p.m. or before 5 a.m. on any day."

Curfew hours for youths between the ages of 15, 16 and 17, will be between 1 and 5 a.m. on Saturday or Sunday, and after 11 p.m. on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday; or before 5 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

•Tabled the idea of raising fines for persons responsible for having a dog running loose, pending a 30-day review period while stricter enforcement measurers are tried. The mayor said that both Dunkirk City Court Judge Tommie "Chip" Phillips II and Clevenger agreed this would be a good move.

"I believe increased vigilance and enforcement is the answer," Phillips said at Monday's meeting. Current fines are $25 for a first offense, $50 for a second, and $75 for three or more.

•Noted that veteran city employee Howard Fisher is being promoted to superintendent of the street department, effective Wednesday, Aug. 30. Elijah "Lash" Harvey, street department superintendent for the last 10 years, will become the assistant superintendent in anticipation of his pending retirement in January 2007. Both men are in agreement with this move, Mayor Hubbard said. Harvey has been a city employee since 1964, city clerk-treasurer Kesler said.

•Noted that the Ind. 167 street improvement project will not be advertised for bidding until September 2007, according to the most recent information received by the mayor. This will mean the majority of the actual construction work will be done in 2008, Hubbard said.

Consequently, next year's Glass Days Festival could still be held in the downtown area, he said.[[In-content Ad]]