{"id":32,"date":"2019-10-08T19:17:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T19:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/j347taylormiller\/?p=32"},"modified":"2019-10-08T19:17:42","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T19:17:42","slug":"whitewater-common-council-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/j347taylormiller\/2019\/10\/08\/whitewater-common-council-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitewater Common Council Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Tuesday, October 1,\n2019, the Whitewater Common Council held their first meeting of the month at\n6:30 p.m. in the Whitewater Municipal Building. The Common Council meets on the\nfirst and third Tuesday of every month to discuss ongoing projects around the\ncity and upcoming events. The main topic discussed for this meeting was the\nbudget for 2020 led by City Manager, Cameron Clapper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clapper began the\npresentation by stating the process of the budget approval. The budget delivery\nwas presented during the meeting and the next step is to have the Finance\nCommittee review it between October 10-24. Then the final presentation of the\nbudget is brought to the Common Council on November 5 and if it is approved it\nwill be brought to Public Hearing and Adaptation. This process goes through\nmultiple people to make sure that the budget is in reasonable range. Clapper\nstates in the beginning of his presentation, \u201cBudget becomes a comprehensive\ndocument that becomes a valuable resource for the company.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While reviewing the\nbudget, it is shown that the budget for 2020 will be $9.8 million. This is a\n2.5% increase compared to last years budget. With this increased budget,\nresidents will have to pay more for their taxes due to the decrease of\nintergovernment revenues. Clapper explained, \u201cProperty taxes and\nintergovernment revenue is where we draw funds. Intergovernment revenue is\nbeginning to get smaller.\u201d The City of Whitewater is shifting their funds,\nwhich results in asking the residents for more and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Common Council does\nhave some goals related to this budget for the upcoming year. They are going to\nhave debt management by limiting the annual Capital financing to an amount less\nthan or equal to the value of debt principal retirement. They will also set\naside 1% of the General Fund operating budget each year for contingencies. With\nthese goals, they will create a balanced fund for the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2020 budget, the\nresidents will expect a 4% increase in Health Insurance along with an increase\nin wages. Clapper stated at the end of his presentation, \u201cWe are right on with\nthe average risk in claims, 48% more likely to be in workers compensations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the budget, the\nCommon Council also had a few concerns during the meeting. They are concerned\nbecause there are limited funding sources as well as the limited fund balances.\nThey are also concerned with the long term infrastructure needs around the\ncity. Clapper stated, \u201cWe try to apply the revenues we receive to fund for\nspecific purposes.\u201d They have projects around the city that they are in the\nprocess of fixing up, so when they have funds they apply them to what needs to\nbe worked on in specific areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides the budget, Matthew Sylvester-Knutson and Mark Elworthy\npresented a discussion about dissolving the Palmyra Eagle Area School District\n(PEASD). This operating referendum was on the April 2019 ballot but did not\npass due to only 39% approving the move. The project will have to go through\nmany people to get approval and if it gets approved to dissolve, changes would\nbe effective July 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Common Council discussed a few more spending items at the end of\nthe meeting. This included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n