By Allison Petty
Herald & Review
DECATUR, Ill. — The city of Decatur’s budget picture for 2015 looks much less grim than it did this time last year, when underperforming revenues and high pension costs led to the loss of 20 city positions.
City Manager Ryan McCrady presented a $157.6 million budget and significantly brighter outlook Friday for the coming year, though there were still challenges to overcome. Even as it works to restore water supply and repair sewers, the city must address dilapidated properties that need to be demolished, aging pavements that need to be repaired and worn-out equipment that needs to be replaced.
“This year’s budget certainly has more good news in it than we’ve had the last few years,” McCrady said. “We certainly aren’t flush, but I’m happy to report that we’re not in a situation where we’re cutting services and staff.
I think the budget reflects the priorities of the community, as far as major things that we’re trying to get taken care of, and that’s what a budget is supposed to do.”
The Decatur City Council is slated to discuss the budget and tax levy proposals in a study session at its meeting Monday, with a vote scheduled for a future meeting.
To start a funding source for its equipment needs, the Decatur Fire Department may contemplate a new task next year. McCrady said the department might begin to provide emergency medical transport services, which are now entirely handled by Decatur Ambulance Service.
He said the fire department would not look to put the ambulance service out of business, but rather to supplement its offerings. The department already responds to many emergency medical calls.
“We don’t believe it will negatively impact their business,” McCrady said. “We know there are times that there’s demand for service that might exceed some of their ability to provide it. We also know that there’s times when we have things that are purely city-related that they end up standing by for,” such as fire situations.
While providing the services would require the purchase of some ambulance equipment, McCrady said it would be expected to pay for itself and also generate money for the fire department to purchase items it needs, such as vehicles and equipment.
David Burkham, CEO of Decatur Ambulance Service, declined to comment on the situation Friday.
McCrady said the city could potentially implement the change in the second half of 2015. Emergency dispatchers would decide whether to send the fire department or ambulance service to a particular situation, he said.
“They’re going to send whatever resource that can get there the fastest and whatever resource can best meet the needs,” he said. “If we don’t have our unit available, if our unit is occupied or very far away and there’s a DAS unit close by, then we would want to cooperate (with) that. This is about getting better services to our residents.”
The $64.7 million general fund budget reflects a projection that some revenues, such as sales tax, will increase as much as 4 percent next year.
McCrady acknowledged that cold weather drove down those funding sources in the first quarter of 2014 but said they rebounded well later in the year. He cited declining unemployment and investments by some businesses, such as Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Akorn Pharmaceuticals, as signs that the economy is recovering steadily.
He said the city is on track to end this year either breaking even or with a small surplus.
Under McCrady’s proposed tax levy, the city would levy $11.8 million, which is essentially flat from last year’s levy of $11,784,000.
A change in property values, and resulting effect on the city’s tax rate, won’t be known until the first quarter of next year. However, city officials estimate a 1 percent drop in property values, which would mean a 1 percent tax rate increase, from $1.406 per $100 of equalized assessed valuation to $1.421.
There are other unknowns in the city budget, too. McCrady said negotiations continue between the city and Decatur School District to place police officers back in the two public high schools, a practice that was ended in July because of city budget constraints.
The proposed budget contains a $250,000 line item for the school district to reimburse the city for public safety costs, but such an arrangement has yet to be approved by the school board and city council.
The budget contains funding for two additional police officers, but McCrady said the outcome of negotiations with the school district will affect how many police cadets are sent to the Illinois State Police Training Academy in January.
“They only have two academies now, January and September,” he said. “So you can see in our staffing of the police department, why we run into times when we’re short (of how many positions are budgeted), because you can’t just send officers to the academy whenever you want.”
Next year’s calendar also threw a kink in the works for city planners. It contains 27 pay periods instead of the typical 26, with the final payday falling on Dec. 31.
Because of this, McCrady said the budget contains a $1.5 million deficit when viewed on a cash basis. However, he said the situation does not appear negative when viewed on an accrual basis, as is done by financial institutions for credit rating purposes.
“It’s just simply a timing issue as far as when those paychecks get issued. The Federal Reserve Bank is not going to let us wait and pay our employees on the second of January,” he said. “If it was one day later, it wouldn’t be an issue.”
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©2014 the Herald & Review (Decatur, Ill.)