Small Town News

Town services not to be cut in budget for new fiscal year

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Following a number of work sessions in which ideas for budget cuts in town government were batted back and forth in public, evaluated, rejected or accepted, the Town of Superior has passed a tentative budget with proposed cuts.

Details of the proposed budget itself are available at Town Hall for public review and the budget will be advertised for two weeks according to statutes. It will come back for final approval in the first week of July.

During the series of work sessions and discussions a number of possible suggestions for cuts were proposed by town staffers to offset a deficit of approximately $165, 000. These original ideas, few of which were used, included closing the town hall and senior center one day a week, laying off one senior center employee, keeping the library open only three days a week, increasing refuse billing by $1 per month. Other possible solutions brainstormed were closing the senior center, pool and library, layoff of one full-time sewer employee and hiring one part-time employee, restructuring the Municipal Property Bond to extend the payback time and increasing sewer bills by $1 per month per customer.

Despite the length of the list the town staff only recommended: 1) the laying off of one firefighter with Fire Operations Chief Todd Pryor to fill the gap so service would remain the same to the public ($50, 000 saving), restructuring Municipal Property Corporation bond to extend payments (saving possibility $72, 000) and increasing sewer bill by $1 ($16, 000 saving).

These measures without decreasing service to the public would save $154, 000 leaving Superior an approximate $11, 000 away from a balanced budget for fiscal year 2010.

But Town Manager Melanie Oliver and the staff said at a council work session that the state's new 1 percent sales tax increase could bring in enough funds to bridge this gap.

The council discussions included the desire of all to retain services to the town citizens. Points also ranged from whether it was wise to count on the sales tax coming in, whether it was not better to go into Fiscal Year 2010 with a balanced budget, or whether in business it was necessary to plan even if not 100 percent certain that planned monies would manifest themselves.



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© 2011 The Superior Sun Superior, Nebraska. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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