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Work begins on city budget

Department heads told to control spending

By Bert Lehman


The city of Clintonville has begun preliminary work on its 2019 operating budget.

City Administrator Sharon Eveland told the Clintonville Finance Committee at its July 9 meeting that the heads of each of the city departments have been instructed to keep the budgets flat for 2019. The only exception to those instructions is for salaries and benefits.

Eveland said the city is anticipating a 10 percent increase in health insurance premiums.

“We will be looking at shopping insurance carriers again,” Eveland said. “We’ve had serious issues with some of that.”

In 2018 the city added dental insurance to employee benefits, but employees had to pay the full premium cost. Eveland said for 2019 she is looking for a way for the city to pay a portion of the dental insurance premium for city employees.

“I don’t know how much, but my goal is to, long-term, to have that be the same percentage as the way the health insurance is done,” Eveland said.

She added that she is focusing on salaries and benefits in the 2019 budget. Results from the compensation study the city is conducting could play a role in those decisions. The city council will have a say as to if and how results from that study are implemented.

“If the council decided not to implement the plan, we are budgeting for pay increases,” Eveland said.
Negotiations with the police union will also take place in the fall, Eveland said.

“That may have an effect on our operating budget as well,” she said.

The 2019 budget will see a benefit from the city closing several tax incremental districts this year. This will result in a one-time levy limit increase that will be “above and beyond net new construction.”

“As of right now I anticipate the city’s portion of the tax rate not increasing,” Eveland said. “But until we see numbers I won’t know that for sure.”

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