News - Local News

POSTED: Monday, Nov. 16, 2009

Blaine proposes staff cuts, fee and tax increases in budget

BLAINE - The city likely will have to cut several staff positions in 2010 and increase sewer fees and property taxes to shore up its budget.

The proposed 2010 general fund budget is about $4.6 million, trimmed more than 2 percent from 2009 numbers.

"We were very conservative when we put the 2009 budget together, and then we had to make reductions on that," said City Manager Gary Tomsic. "We're down from 2009, so we've been extremely conservative on this budget. We haven't forecasted increases anywhere in terms of expenditures."

The proposed staff cuts are the equivalent of 2.4 full-time positions. A spot in the planning department will be left open after the September resignation of planning director Terry Galvin, and a police officer job will remain unfilled after a retirement. Other cuts include a part-time position in the Visitor Information Center and a part-time mechanic.

"Certainly in the planning and development office things are going to slow down there," Tomsic said. "People who are looking at permits of various types are going to find it takes a little longer to get things done because we're shorthanded there."

The city has proposed an 11.2 percent increase in sewer fees and a 1 percent increase in property taxes, though the City Council has yet to act on either.

The property tax increase would cost the average homeowner about $3 a year and would net the city about $9,200.

Sewer fees would rise about $8 a month for houses and condos in the city and $12 for those in the county that receive sewer service from Blaine. Rates would remain the same for senior or disabled low-income households. Tomsic called the increase "hefty" and said there is likely to be another hefty increase next year to pay off loans for the city's new wastewater treatment plant.

The fees also are higher because of the council's recent elimination of water and sewer hookup fees, done at the request of developer Ken Imus.

"It affects the utilities that were getting the money, so I think in the sewer fund that's up a couple of percent because we dropped the general facility fees," Tomsic said. "The rate model would have maybe been a 9 percent increase instead, so it has had some impact in the rates."

Tomsic said he didn't foresee increases in water or electric rates next year.

The City Council will have a budget study session at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, and should adopt the budget at its first meeting in December.