Council Uses City Reserves to Meet Budget Shortfall

After weeks of warnings about drastic budget cuts, the City Council late Tuesday agreed to make up more than half of a nearly $2-million budget shortfall with reserves and the remainder with a series of smaller cuts.

“The council came to the conclusion that trying to correct all the problems in one year would be too much of a shock to the community,” said Mayor Robert Harbicht.

The budget dilemma was a result of property owners’ rejection of a $2.2-million assessment for fire services. After the assessment failed, council members said the city needed to consider closing a fire station and a park, reducing library hours and laying off half a dozen city employees to make up the shortfall. Residents, firefighters and other city employees had opposed the cuts and urged the council to dip into city reserves.

The council agreed to take $1.2 million to $1.3 million from reserves, cut $370,000 in Fire Department overtime and eliminate a vacant fire captain position. It also eliminated the city newsletter, cut council travel and reduced the tree trimming budget, he said.