By Sara StrongThe Luverne City Council is meeting again this week to discuss how to handle this year’s budget constraints. It will also preview what will be faced in 2004.More personnel cuts are coming, since avoiding that left the city short $47,691 for 2003.The city won’t be specific about the positions or employees being cut because they haven’t been personally notified, but this week’s retirement announcement by Public Works Director Darrell Huiskes is already figured in this equation.Cuts for 2003:oSummer rec. — $5,500oWinter rec. — $8,000oCity share sidewalk improvements — $15,000oForestry — $2,000oStreet part time — $3,800oMisc. street advertising — $1,000oCommercial backfill program through the Economic Development Authority — $2,000oStorefront renovation program through the EDA — $1,000oEDA part time intern — $2,500oBuilding and zoning part time help — $3,000oFire FEMA savings — $10,000oCouncil travel — $1,000oAdministrator travel — $5,000oAdministrator vehicle — $1,000oChamber cut — $9,500oTree dump — $1,500oPublic works layoffs — $8,904oCity Hall layoffs — $8,434oDepartment head retirement or layoffs — $14,209oAdditional department head elimination — $11,367Worst case scenario for city taxesTo avoid taxing the maximum allowable by the state, the city has slashed the budget — department by department.City Financial Officer Barb Berghorst calculated the possible city portion of property tax bills if the city levies the maximum the state will allow. Total local levy for city of Luverne in 2003 was $534,818, could be as high as $687,316, or an increase of $152,498 (28.5 percent). Those numbers are not final and are only a worst case scenario at this point.For a $75,000 home: currently pay $258.77, will be $332.55, or a difference of $73.79For a $100,000 home: currently $345.02, will be $443.40, or a difference of $98.38For a $150,000 business: currently $776.30, will be $997.65, or an increase of $221.36Of course, this doesn’t consider school or county levies.The city has had decreased levies for the past two years.
