By Clark Natalie

After the regular Harris council meeting Tuesday, Aug. 29, a workshop was held to prepare the 2007 budget. A review of the process was done, with input from the city treasurer Richard Hill who had preliminary draft numbers for the council to review.

Hill said much information had been incorporated into the numbers. One-time expenditures were removed and ongoing repayments were left in.

Also, anticipated city operation increases were calculated. On average, gas will go up 12 percent and electric 10 percent. Motor fuel is project to increase by 25 percent, insurance by only 5 percent.

Still, Mayor Rick Smisson assured the council that with the problems that were dealt with in 2006, there should not be an increase in the levy for 2007.

What the council needed to decide was what initiatives and expenditures should be included; what projects or items needed to be addressed. Each department, Hill said, should look at inefficiencies and see what needs to be done or what equipment needs to be purchased to eliminate those inefficiencies.

Mayor Smisson used, as an example, the new tractor for the maintenance department that is being purchased. Along with the tractor, additional accessories such as a blade and lawn mower are being purchased. This will allow Maintenance Supervisor Mike Kriz to operate more efficiently.

One option the council proposed was to hire additional help for Kriz and the maintenance department. With the new Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) being added, it will take a lot of Krizís time during the day.

Also, the maintenance department needs to replace the road grader. A five-year plan was proposed for upgrading all of Harrisís roads. At present rates, this is projected to cost $60,000 per year, but the roads would be brought up to current standards.

The council expressed interest in setting up an Internet site. This would allow people to access the ordinances and codes without involving office personnel.

Completing the renovation of the ball field was also a top priority.

The issue of police protection also was brought up. The cost of the protection has never reached the amount budgeted.

The consensus was to increase hours. Hill outlined a plan where nearby towns with similar needs for police protection pool their resources and pay the county to provide an officer dedicated to those towns. The officer would, at all times be on duty in one of those three towns.

Kriz also noted that the water tower needed to be repainted. Because of the expense of doing the repainting, he said sometimes it is cheaper to replace the tower. This will be discussed further.

The council continued to brainstorm, throwing out ideas. When the meeting was completed, Smisson said he would take the compiled list and assign specific ideas to specific council members.

Although the budget has to be certified at the Sept. 11 meeting and certified to the Chisago County Treasurer by Sept. 15, each item can be looked at carefully.

When the proposed budget is presented for certification, it sets the cap on what the taxes will be. The council can always lower the levy, but cannot increase it.