2010 Budget Tops Common Council Agenda

The South Milwaukee Common Council meets at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1, at City Hall, and it’s your final chance to weigh in on the proposed 2010 budget. I hope you can attend.

We held a public hearing on the budget on Monday evening, and no citizens chose to comment on the document. While that’s disappointing, I am happy with the budget we’ll be voting on on Tuesday … and you should be too.

Among the highlights of the proposed budget, which reflect some new, much closer-to-final figures from previous drafts:

• Expenditures are budgeted to increase 2.55% to more than $19.7 million. This is below the state’s expenditure restraint limit of 3.2%, meaning South Milwaukee is line for a payment of nearly $375,000 from the state in 2010 — a well-deserved “reward” for conservative budgeting.
• The tax levy is anticipated to increase 2.49% next year, putting the total levy for city purposes at just over $10 million.
• The corresponding tax rate will be $7.08 per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of 1.77% from 2009, or about 12 cents per $1,000 of valuation on the city portion of your tax bill.

I invite you to learn more about the budget at Tuesday’s council meeting and, if you’d like, let your voice be heard on this important document.

And, while you’re at it, give a big thanks to the mayor, Finance Committee, city administrator and her staff, and all of our department heads for putting together a fiscally responsible and financially sound budget during a difficult economy.

This budget is not without pain — for instance, it includes not filling four vacant positions in the street, engineering and health departments and library — but it could have been worse, a lot worse, if not for a lot of hard work by a lot of people.