Corner Office Briefs: Bianchi on Budget, Back Taxes, Roads
.JPG) The mayor on Tuesday discussed some of the current projects the administration is working on. |
"It will be an increase of a couple percent," Bianchi said on Tuesday. "It will be pretty much a level-service budget."
Currently the city's financial staff is working on finalizing numbers for health and liability insurance as well as debt services. Bianchi expects the first draft of the budget to be completed in a "couple of weeks."
He expects an increase in the budget between 2 and 3 percent and no department is expected to see a dramatic cut or increase.
"The debt service and energy costs are the two main impacts on our budget this year," Bianchi said.
School Budget
The school department's operating budget is expected to see a 3.5 percent increase, which translates to about $1.9 million. That came at a cost of nearly 28 full-time positions being eliminated.
Superintendent Jason McCandless outlined a number of cuts the department had to make to balance the budget with a 3.5 percent increase because contractual obligations, capital cost on new buses and utility bills increasing led the department to about a $2 million shortfall.
"It was a struggle for them to get it down to that number and I understand that. I'm so appreciative of the work Dr. McCandless and Kristen Behnke have done to get down to that," Bianchi said. "Originally I hoped to see that number even lower but I recognized the difficulty to get to 3.5 percent increase."
He said, "I was hoping to get it closer to 3 percent. But, 3.5 percent gives the school department close to a $2 million increase over last year."
Roads
Meanwhile, the city also also awarded LB Corp. a $3.7 million contract to pave 21 city streets with various levels of repairs.
"We put out the bid for the scope of work to be approximately $3.5 million. The low bid was $3.7 million," Bianchi said. "They'll begin work as soon as the frost is out of the ground."
Some city councilors questioned the roads that were chosen in the repair schedule. The mayor said the roads and the types of repairs are based on recommendations from a newly developed pavement management system and coordinating work schedules with the gas company.
Meanwhile, he says the process of chip sealing is a quality repair and not just a patch, which some had concerns about.
"We are doing a combination of things to really make the dollars we have available to us go as far as possible and to do it in a scientific way. In the past, there hadn't been a terrible scientific approach but now we have that. Chip sealing is real great alternative at a fraction of the cost," Bianchi said.
"It doesn't mean we are throwing down a little tar and some stones. We're going in and because we did a core sample of the road, we're going to go in cut out bad parts, pave the bad parts and cover the whole thing with an asphalt mixture."
He said five crews of workers are currently in the street working to repair potholes.
"We are working diligently. We have five crews working on potholes right now. It is a challenge but we're getting there," Bianchi said.
Tax Title Sale
In about six weeks, the city is also look to auction off upward of $10 million worth of tax liens. The city recently held a meeting with the public to explain the process, which will essentially sell the debt owed to the city to private companies, who will be able to perform takings or levy heavier fines. Bianchi hopes the process will bring more of the back taxes into the city coffers.
"We are probably going to be auctioning sometime in the middle to the end of May," Bianchi said.
"I certainly urge people to come in if they are on that list [the list of liens to be auctioned can be found here.] and make some arrangement with our tax collectors because once it goes to tax title, there is a significant change that is allowed for the third party to levy. We just can't afford to have that $10 million hanging out there from people who haven't paid their taxes."
Election
The mayor plans to run for re-election though he has not announced his candidacy. He has, however, taken out papers and says he is planning a formal announcement in the coming weeks. He is currently collecting signatures and putting together a campaign team, plotting strategies, and preparing to hold fundraisers.
"I plan on making an official announcement when I'll lay out an agenda for the future and some reflections on what we've accomplished over the last three years," Bianchi said.
City Clerk Linda Tyer and resident Craig Gaetani have both announced campaigns for the office.
Berkshire Innovation Center Lease
The lease between the newly formed non-profit Berkshire Innovation Center board and the city has not yet been finalized. The mayor said there have been a number of meetings between city lawyers, the City Council leaders, and the BIC board in crafting a deal.
The City Council is waiting for the lease before it approves a tax increment financing plan. Bianchi says he doesn't have a timeline of when it will be completed.
"We are hoping to have something in the next month or so. We're not going to rush this. We're going to get it right," he said.
Downtown Construction
The final phase of North Street reconstruction is set for the summer. The mayor says staff will be working with planners of such events like Third Thursday and the Fourth of July Parade to ensure the events can still occur during the construction. Meanwhile, downtown merchants are not expected to see as much of an impact as previous phases.
"We're going to do it in phases and we are going to do it reasonably so that it won't be terribly disruptive to merchants," Bianchi said. "We're going to do it in a manner so that it doesn't shut everything down."
In the fall, the city is expecting to launch a new parking plan as well. The Department of Community Development is still managing that process.
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