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NB delays levy approvalBy Barbara Brown The North Branch city council Monday night delayed approval of the cityís 2004 levy and asked staff to cut an additional $32,700 from the budget. Bonding for small ticket items ñ those that cost $5,000 or less ñ was one of the points of concern for the council at the Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 truth in taxation hearings. Mayor Gloria Karsky suggested that equipment that costs $5,000 or less should not be paid for from proceeds of an equipment certificate the city plans to sell in the coming year. The total of small ticket items proposed for the certificate was about $23,900. An equipment certificate allows the city to sell a bond and use the money to buy machinery and other equipment it finds necessary. The total proposed bond amount for the equipment certificate is $272,400. Karsky asked that individual departments take those items out of the equipment certificate plan and find ways to pay for them in their own departmental budgets. The council also was concerned about the overtime budget for the city ñ at about $14,000 excluding police and public works departments which are governed by union contracts. The council asked City Administrator Joe Lynch to get the departments to examine their overtime budgets and remove about 20 percent, or about $2,800. The council asked for more information about the possibility of leaving the city engineerís position as a contract position. Currently, engineer Julie Dresel works four days a week and is paid on a contract basis. Keeping her employed as a contractor would save the city about $6,000 in payroll taxes and insurance costs, among other things. The council did not adopt the proposed $2.3 million levy at the Dec. 8 hearing, and instead opted to have staff return for the Dec. 22 council meeting with its new calculations for final adoption. ©ECM Post Review |