Budget issues dominate council agenda

In the News

The Maryville City Council will begin early and very likely work late during its final session of August.

Council members will gather at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. Monday for the first of two budget workshops in preparation for passing a new municipal spending blueprint for fiscal 2018 on Sept. 25.

In addition, during the regular portion of the meeting beginning at 7 p.m., the council will consider a number of new ordinances, including measures adjusting property tax rates for levies earmarked to produce revenue for the city’s general and debt retirement funds, Maryville Parks & Recreation and the Maryville Public Library.

Permitted reassessment revenue growth is based on the lowest of three benchmarks: percentage increase in adjusted valuation of existing property; the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index; or an arbitrary 5 percent increase.

The City of Maryville’s valuation growth for 2017, at .2760 percent, was the lowest of the three factors and so used for the computation.

Levies for the General Fund and Parks & Recreation will remain unchanged at 35.56 cents and 40.85 cents respectively per $100 of assessed valuation.

Following a levy hike approved by voters in April, the library’s tax rate will increase from a fraction over 16 cents to approximately 28 and a half cents per $100. The debt retirement levy will decrease from 12.9 cents to 9.7 cents.

According to a report submitted to the council by Finance Director Denise Town, establishment of the new rates will generate the following revenues for fiscal 2018: General Fund, $469,626; debt retirement, $129,153; Parks & Recreation, $551,200; Maryville Public Library, $380,000.

Also on Monday, the council will hear 2018 budget presentations from Parks & Recreation Director Aaron Dobson and Maryville Public Library Director Stephanie Patterson.

As reported earlier, Dobson is proposing a $1.38 million operations budget with a 20 percent contingency fund of $277,289. The parks budget also includes $110,000 in proposed capital spending for a combined fiscal blueprint of $1.77 million.

While the budget contains no cost-of-living pay raise, it does provide for 2 percent wage increases for selected employees based on merit. The spending plan also calls for the addition of two full-time staff positions, a recreation coordinator and a maintenance worker.

Capital improvements proposed for next year include construction of a new pavilion and restrooms at Franklin Park north of downtown, $35,000; improvements at the north entrance to Beal Park, $29,000; Americans with Disabilities Act-approved drinking fountains equipped with dog bowls, $7,000; valve repairs at the Maryville Aquatic Center, $11,000; new weight-training and cardio equipment for the Maryville Community Center, $9,000; and repairs to the Community Center heating/air conditioning system, $7,000.

As for the library, Patterson is predicting a significant increase in revenues for fiscal 2018 from $261,214 to $417,300, a figure that includes $10,000 in Friends of the Library contributions. With $389,770 in anticipated expenditures, the library is expected to show a $27,530 surplus at year-end in September 2018 for a total fund balance of $125,000, or about 30 percent of annual revenues.

Other budget-related matters before the council Monday will include appropriations requests from various organizations seeking municipal support over the coming year for programs and services associated with economic development or perceived as benefitting the community at large.

Groups scheduled to make presentations before the governing board include Northwest Missouri Enterprise Facilitation, the Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri, Nodaway County Economic Development, the Maryville Public Art Committee and the New Nodaway Humane Society.

All five organizations have received municipal funding in the past.

Additional issues before the council include an ordinance enacting city-initiated rezoning of a two-block area in the Campus Town special overlay district, a 40-block section of mostly rental homes, duplexes and apartment buildings generally to the east of Northwest Missouri State University.

The blocks in question comprise 18 properties and extend south to north between Sixth and Seventh streets and west to east from Walnut to Fillmore. Staff is recommending the area be rezoned from R-2, meaning single-family housing that can be either owner-occupied or rented, to R-2M, a designation that allows for the construction of duplexes.

In a written report to the council, City Manager Greg McDanel and Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland said the parcels in question adjoin higher-density properties, and that the intent of the special overlay district as described in the city’s comprehensive plan is to encourage new construction of rental housing.

The Maryville Planning & Zoning Commission reviewed the proposal earlier this month and recommended approval, with members either voting in favor or abstaining due to possible conflicts of interest.

Other ordinances set for a vote include approval of contracts with airport consultant JViation and Ideker Inc., a St. Joseph-based construction company, for a new apron at Northwest Missouri Regional Airport.

Cost of rebuilding the apron, essentially a parking lot for airplanes, is estimated at a little more than $1 million. Ninety percent of the cost is to be funded through a Missouri Department of Transportation block grant, with a $108,000 local match financed through a low-interest loan from the State Transportation Assistance Revolving Fund, a MoDOT program known as STAR.

A final ordinance before the council calls for the low-bid purchase of a 60-horsepower pump for the sanitary sewer system’s Southwest Lift Station from Allied Systems Inc. at a cost of $23,790.