City budget talks include upgrades

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July 31, 2012

City budget talks include upgrades

No tax rate increase proposed

By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun The Corsicana Daily Sun Tue Jul 31, 2012, 10:12 PM CDT

Corsicana — After years of cutting the budget, the City of Corsicana is putting some money back into the proposed budget for 2013.

Making that possible is higher revenues from sales taxes this year; expected higher revenues from franchise fees from utilities such as gas and cable; and some higher fees for things like inspections. The council already approved raising rates for sewer service, and decreasing water rates starting in October.

Bottom line is just more than $1 million in expenses for 2013 over what was spent in 2011. The city uses 2011 as the baseline because 2012 isn’t finished yet, so it can’t be certain what was spent in 2012.

The city is not proposing higher property tax rates for 2013, according to Mayor Chuck McClanahan.

“That’s not even on the table,” he said Tuesday following a six and a half hour budget meeting at the Government Center.

The big difference, as Councilman Tom Wilson pointed out, were the dozens of capital purchases and maintenance improvements that he hasn’t seen in at least five years.

It’s a matter of working smarter and more efficiently, McClanahan said, summing up the requests from the various department heads.

In the parks department, it’s a wider mower that will cut more grass per swipe, while in the street department it’s a dump truck that will actually haul material without breaking down.

What residents will see in their day-to-day lives are — hopefully — street projects that finish faster, fewer water line breaks, or at least faster repair of water lines, and less disarray at the Service Center.

The biggest changes will come for the street department, which is tentatively supposed to receive new equipment for street repairs and maintenance, and some new sheds and more secure buildings at the Service Center on South 12th Street.

Examples of the new equipment are the replacement of the 1978 dozier and the 1994 dump truck, according to Terry Franks, who explained that the pothole patch truck, a 1988 vehicle, hasn’t worked since it caught fire and is now used primarily for the bed. The “good” truck is a 2001 model, he said.

“In the last three to five years we’ve spent very little upgrading street equipment,” explained City Manager Connie Standridge. Some of those larger pieces of equipment will be financed for three to five years.

Still, the city council has yet to determine which of their pet projects will make it into the budget, and if they want to allow funding for the new equipment for streets, or the landfill. The next city budget meeting will take place on Aug. 16.

Some of the issues left undecided Tuesday include:

• Funding repairs for the Temple Beth-El’s distinctive onion domes;

• Generators for each of the fire department’s three substations, in case of power outages;

• Improvements to the current animal shelter, including possibly putting in an exercise yard for the dogs;

• Replacements of breathing apparatuses for the fire department;

• Hiring a part-time code inspector for nights and weekends;

• Repaving the hike/bike trail at Community Park, putting development money into the new sports complex on 45th Street, tree trimming at the various parks, and lighting at the Mertz Tennis Center and IOOF Park;

• Adding back a children’s librarian at the library;

• A one-time bonus for employees instead of a raise.

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Janet Jacobs may be reached via email at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “soundoff” to this article? Email: Soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com

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City budget talks include upgrades

No tax rate increase proposed

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