It’s a balanced budget, but there will certainly be plenty of additional discussion before Galesburg City Council looks to adopt a spending plan next month.
City Manager Todd Thompson proposed the FY 17 budget last night at a work session. The proposal eliminates a near $2 million deficit through staff cuts and other strategies.
Six positions in the city would be lost, moving those individuals to lower positions. They include cuts from public works, finance, streets, and fire and police.
Thompson tells WGIL some could see a salary decrease on a predetermined salary scale, however, no personnel would be lost.
“If you’re at a 12 and you shift to a nine that’s a lower salary range,” Thompson said as an example. “Some people would make the argument that you should lower the salary, but I think that’s difficult to do and it’s a little unfair to the employees.”
The proposed budget would also use about $8.2 million from a $10 million bond issue for 11 street projects and a park project in the next two years.
Various aldermen took issue with that, arguing that no new park improvements would be on the horizon until 2019. Some of the money going into the street developments was what was earmarked for the armory redevelopment that failed last month.
Finally, some questioned a proposed property tax decrease. The average $68,000 homeowner would pay about $25 less per year. The difference means about $225,000 less revenue.
No decisions were made last night. Council will adopt a budget next month following a public hearing and another work session at the end of this month.
