By Sara StrongThe City of Luverne is stuck in a difficult spot. It’s trying to make budget cuts, while it doesn’t even know how much to cut yet. Add that to a budget that’s laden with required spending, and the council has a problem difficult for any math genius to solve.So far, city department heads compiled options for reduced spending — up to $188,340 — but the Council has yet to do much more than look at the numbers.The budget cuts are largely because of lost money from the state, which is having its own legendary shortfall of about $4.8 billion.The importance of state aid to the city is clear: for 2003, Luverne taxpayers paid just $534,818 of the total governmental budget of $3,537,615.Luverne City Council members won’t know what their share of state aid reductions amounts to until after the legislative session, which is at least a month away. Some estimates have the city reducing its budget by about $200,000, but not knowing makes the process more difficult. Mayor Glen Gust said to the city department leaders, "Maybe with your advice, we can make a decision that’s not going to be too painful for everyone."Other than just making cuts, the city is also considering other revenue sources — from franchise fees collected from gas companies to increased utility fees for customers.Another issue the Council has to face, is that deferring spending this year doesn’t mean that money won’t have to be spent later. Street projects, for example, can be delayed, but eventually have to be handled. The city also sets aside money for future projects before they are needed. The city of Luverne has budgeted $6,000 annually for playground equipment in the past. When equipment fails, the money is waiting to be spent, but delaying funds toward a future project only means a bigger bill when it comes time to replace equipment.Some ideas for cuts(Numbers reflect totals in the budget for an item. These were submitted to the Council for consideration before it discussed possible cuts.)o$3,000 savings — Minimize use of part-time help when the Building Official is on vacation or out for other reasons. Also, the official could limit the number of seminars for continuing education. o$3,650 savings — Eliminate insect control program.o$60,000 savings — Defer seal coating on city streets in 2003. o$1,000 savings — Eliminate grounds maintenance of Public Works facilities.o$3,800 savings — Eliminate part-time street employees who do mowing, paint buildings and sign posts and open parks.o$700 savings — Eliminate uniforms for Public Works people working on the streets.o$1,300 savings — Reduce travel and training in Public Works.o$1,000 savings — Eliminate advertising in Public Works. o$500 savings — Eliminate dues and subscriptions for Public Works department.o$10,000 savings — Reduce wages and benefits.o$7,000 savings — Eliminate Community Education funding.o$11,000 savings — Eliminate in-line skating subsidy.o$8,000 savings — Eliminate half management fee for winter recreation.o$16,750 savings — eliminate part-time park help, eliminate flower pots, eliminate playground equipment set aside, reduce grounds maintenance and eliminate parks uniforms.o$5,540 savings — Reduce forestry grounds maintenance, eliminate part-time forestry help, close tree dump.o$3,000 savings — Cut everything but the chemicals for the "river and creek dredging" budget item. This is preventative maintenance for the dam.o$9,500 savings — Eliminate half the Chamber of Commerce subsidy.o$15,000 savings — Eliminate Technology and Telecommunications funding ($10,000) and Southwest Minnesota Foundation contribution ($5,000).o$15,000 savings — Stop paying half of maintenance costs on sidewalks. Property owners would be responsible for repairs.It’s already spentCouncil members discussed the fairness of cutting funds in some areas for this year. Community Education, for example, plans classes based on the funds it was told were coming. The Chamber of Commerce and the summer in-line skate programs also fall under that principle, and the Council doubted it would remove those funds from this year’s budget. Programs and costs that aren’t essential functions of the city will be looked at with a sharper eye as the budgets for 2004 and 2005 are finalized.UtilitiesUtilities Coordinator Red Arndt said his budget has little room for cuts. There are fewer linemen working for the city than the city employed years ago, and much of the budget is capital expenses on the utilities infrastructure."Our costs are mostly maintenance and capital costs," he said.Arndt estimated that with the new hospital and clinic expansion planned, the utilities budget will require more money, not less. A new water tower is just a part of what a facility that size will require.Councilman Pat Baustian asked Arndt to consider cutting uniform expenses like the Public Works Department proposed. Arndt said the city utility crews should be identifiable because they often work on residents’ properties, to check meters or do electric work for instance.Public WorksMosquito spraying is just $3,600 of the budget, but could be cut.Public Works Director Darrell Huiskes said, "With the West Nile virus, it’s kind of hard to say we should quit it."In fact, after a class on insect control, Huiskes said the city should consider spending a couple thousand dollars more to kill mosquitoes before their larvae hatch in water."We obviously don’t want to spend a lot of money, but it’s also a public health issue," Huiskes said.Other departmental savings could be: delaying new equipment purchases and not sweeping and removing snow at the airport.Huiskes also said, "You can save the $60,000 by not doing the seal coating this year. The seal coat really is the life of a road, but, for one year, we could go without."LibraryThe city of Luverne and Rock County share the costs of Rock County Community Library, as they do law enforcement and the Rock County Pool and Fitness Center.Librarian Glenda Bremer said the library could save $12,600 by closing Sundays; reducing book, audio visual and periodical purchases; and reducing supply purchases, building maintenance expenses and contractual services.Bremer said the library is closed Sundays in the summer anyway, so to save money, it would not reopen Sundays in the fall. The hours on Sunday had been 2 to 4 p.m.The Council will continue making budget-cutting decisions this year, as it plans for the 2004 budget.
