Auditor: City officials need to take another look at budget

As he noted a large decrease in revenues in the past year, the person who heads up the firm preparing the city of Vandalia’s audit said it’s time for city officials to take a close look at its spending.
“We’re in tough times,” Dale Timmermann of Timmermann and Co. Ltd. told the Vandalia City Council on Tuesday night. “You really need to think about the budget you adopted earlier this year, because you will not be able to meet your obligations.
“You’re going to need to make some tough decisions, and the longer you wait, the harder the decisions are going to be,” he said.
Timmermann reported that in the year that ended on April 30, the city’s revenues in the general fund were about $795,000 less than in the previous year.
At the same time, he said, the general fund expenditures increased by $281,000.
The loss of revenue included a decrease of about $83,000 in state income tax funds and a decrease of about $217,000 in grants and contributions, with the bulk of that related to monies received for road projects.
Also in that total was a one-time award of $454,000 that the city received as a settlement in a railroad right of way case.
The jump in expenses, Timmermann said, included a $302,000 increase in the street department, with $259,000 of that being for capital improvement projects, including the downtown enhancement project.
Mayor Rick Gottman said, “We’re in the same boat (financially) as every city in the United States of America.”
Gottman said that when it approved cutback measures, including furlough days for city employees, “We said that we were going to take a look at it (again) in six or eight months. That time is coming.
“We can’t spend more than we take in,” he said.
Timmermann also noted that the net operating revenues for water and sewer were down by about $116,000. “Frankly, that reflects that you were selling less water,” he said. “The decrease in water sales marks the first time that has happened in a long, long time.”
In addition to presenting the audit, Timmermann presented the annual analysis of the city’s water and sewer systems.
That analysis shows that the city’s water system expenses increased by 5.68 percent, and that sewer system expenses decreased by 5.43 percent.
Under an ordinance approved by the council a number of years ago, any increases in expenses for water or sewer automatically result in equal increases in water and sewer rates, unless the council votes to make adjustments.
Thus, unless the council votes on the rates, city water customers will see their water rates increase by 5.68 percent on Oct. 1.
The ordinance also stipulates that should the expenses decrease, the rates will remain the same. Thus, water users would not experience any change in their sewer rate in the coming year.
Also at the meeting, the council voted unanimously to give the Vandalia Main Street Program $3,750, half of its budgeted allotment for the first six months of this budget year.
While Gottman reminded alderman of the audit report, Alderman Jerry Swarm, who works with Main Street, said that the organization is revamping the program and has dropped the status of its executive director, Dana Whiteman, to part-time.
“We are trying to make ends meet the best we can,” Swarm said. Without the city funds, he said, “we don’t know if we can continue.”
Alderman Bret Brosman made the motion to approve the funding, saying, “It’s a budgeted amount … they do a lot of the community, and it’s not a lot of money.”
Also at the meeting:
• The council approved an amendment to the city salary ordinance to include the $68,000 salary of the new city administrator, John McIntyre.
• The council approved a new agreement with Moran Economic Development through which the city will again pay the firm $1,340 to perform the annual TIF (Tax Increment Financing) audit.
• Lisa Doyle, who owns the Redwood Inn with her husband, Albert, asked the council to consider revising the city ordinance governing fencing to allow them to expand their outdoor facilities.
Doyle said the smoking ordinance has hurt their business, and they want to construct an outdoor area that would include tables, ceiling fans and stereo speakers. That facility, she said, would include a pull-down door that would be used to secure the area overnight.
“My business has moved outside,” she said, explaining that of the 17 customers she had that day, 15 were outside.
One problem, Doyle said, is that the city does not enforce the law prohibiting individuals from carrying alcohol off the property.
“The public needs to be re-educated (about that law),” she said, recommending that police watch for violations of the law for a short period and issue warnings to that end.
“People are meandering around (with alcohol) because nobody is enforcing it,” Doyle said.
Aldermen told Doyle that they weren’t in favor of changing the city ordinance, but Gottman asked the council’s public safety committee to discuss the issue at its next meeting, which has been set for 5:30 p.m. next Tuesday.
• Kim Stone of FAYCO Enterprises gave a brief report on the sheltered workshop’s decision to offer recycling on a daily basis.
• The council voted to ask the Illinois Department of Transportation to allow the closure of Gallatin Street from Third Street to Sixth Street from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25, for the Vandalia Main Street Program’s Corn Day celebration.
• The council voted to ask IDOT for the closure of Gallatin from Third Street to Seventh Street from 7-9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28, for the Vandalia Lions Club’s Halloween Parade.
It also voted to seek closure of Gallatin Street from Third Street to Eighth Street from 8:45-11:15 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4, for the Vandalia Rotary Club’s Christmas Parade.
• The council approved the transfer of Vandalia Lake lot No. 130 from Max and Myrle Pummill of Vandalia to Jeff Storey of Vandalia, and the transfer of lot No. 101 from Albert and Lisa Doyle of Vandalia to Sonia and Chad Wehrle of Vandalia.
• The council approved an ordinance amendment that allows New Wave Communications to pay a yearly solicitor’s fee of $100 instead of the customary daily fee of $25.
• The council accepted the $20,449.86 bid from Arthur Young Inc. in Vandalia for a new police car. Chief Larry Eason said Young’s bid was the only one received by the city.
He said that the new squad car will be purchased with insurance funds received for two squad cars destroyed by flooding in at the end of June and monies in a fund built up with court fees.
• The council approved the appointment of Bob Cearlock to the Vandalia Lake Committee. Cearlock succeeds Don Funk, who died recently.
• The council approved an ordinance that clarifies the definition of inoperable or abandoned vehicles.
• The council approved a resolution supporting the city’s application for a state grant that would be used for sidewalk improvements along Johnson Street, from Elm Street to Seventh Street, and Randolph Street, from Coles Street to Mattes Avenues.
Scott Hunt told aldermen that the grant application essentially represents the city “getting its foot in the door” for funding for future sidewalk improvement projects.
• Barb McCart, a deputy city clerk, issued the oath of office for Jeff Tippen, the member of the city’s police force who has been promoted to the position of sergeant.