Sacramento is not the only governmental body dealing with a
budget.
Sacramento is not the only governmental body dealing with a budget.
Morgan Hill’s City Council will get a thorough look at its 2004-2005 budget during an all-day workshop Friday at City Hall.
As he does every year, Finance Director Jack Dilles will take the council through the $83,356,114 overall budget and Capital Improvement Program (CIP), including the $17,180,423 general fund.
The general fund pays for police (42.4 percent) and fire (22.2 percent) protection, park maintenance (3.8 percent), recreation (15.1 percent), the offices of the city manager, city attorney, human resources and finance (15.8 percent) and a few miscellaneous items (.5 percent).
Non-general fund revenues pay for street maintenance, planning, building and public works departments, environmental programs and a host of other items.
While the public is invited to Friday’s workshop, where department heads will defend their own budgets and employee numbers, the real public hearing – with time for opinion – is scheduled for Wednesday, June 2.
If all goes well council expects to agree on the budget on June 16; by law it must be passed by July 1.
One item the council needs to discuss is a request to increase the cost of trash disposal beginning July 1 as the result of a 1998 deal made with its trash and recycling company.
Based on the agreement between the city and South Valley Disposal and Recycling tying rates to the consumer Price Index (cost of living) and figured by a set formula, the rates for basic residential service will rise 17¢ a month. Flatland residents will thus be charged a maximum of $21.12 and hillside residents a maximum of $23.01 each month, an increase of .82 percent.
Rates will also increase for commercial and industrial users but only at the same .82 percent rate.
The end result to the city will be $6,500 more in franchise fees returned from South Valley Disposal.
South Valley asked for the rate hike because the cost of living has increased, because required contributions to landfill-related trust funds have remained low and to pay for the insert in the next billing cycle explaining the rate adjustment process.
Low-income residents will still be able to receive a 20 percent discount on their trash pickup rates if, as before, they can prove they are eligible for the lifeline discount from PG&E.
Assistant to the city manager Anthony Eulo, also the city’s environmental and recycling master, said Monday that Morgan Hill residents are doing ever better with recycling.
Cities are under state mandate to recycle 50 percent of their disposables and Morgan Hill reached that plateau in 2002, Eulo said.
Numbers for 2003 will be available in January 2005, he said.
