THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2006
Money Talk For City Officials
Park Ridge's $45 million budget for 2006-07 was approved back in April, but officials are still tinkering with some financial issues that could change it significantly.
At a meeting of the city council's Finance and Budget Committee Tuesday (June 13), aldermen had two potentially controversial budget-related items on the agenda:
* A proposal to increase most zoning application and permit application fees by an average of about 10%, including one proposal to raise the fee for demolition of a home from $250 to $1,000, is on the table.
Aldermen couldn't agree June 5 on whether the $1,000 demolition fee was too low or high, and sent the whole fee-increase package back to the committee for further discussion.
These fee increases are expected to raise several hundred thousand dollars to help balance the budget.
* A request by some aldermen for the staff to begin a study of the feasibility of a hiring freeze in order to possibly reduce personnel costs also is pending. The council's Procedures and Regulations Committee reportedly is also discussing this matter.
In a recent memo to aldermen, City Mgr. Tim Schuenke asked aldermen to clarify their intent in these discussions. "I am not sure yet what we are attempting to accomplish in this process," Schuenke said. "There are a number of implications relative to the delivery of services to residents that need to be considered in this."
Schuenke recently surveyed about a dozen area communities to determine their number of full-time staff positions relative to their populations. This revealed tentatively that Park Ridge ranks among the lowest in the number of such positions and that the city is not over-staffed.
In other action items this week, the Finance and Budget Committee was expected to approve a new insurance program for the city and its employees effective on July 1, approve a proposal from Economic Development Director Kim Uhlig to conduct a comprehensive retail analysis of Park Ridge business, and approve a contract with Vistara Construction to monitor and coordinate construction activity in the city.