By JAMES KATES / Capstone Managing Editor
City Manager Cameron Clapper delivered a lean 2015 budget to the Whitewater Common Council on Tuesday, with the draft document calling for a spending increase of just over 1 percent.
Clapper’s budget would spend $9,472,401 to fund city operations ranging from law enforcement to parks and recreation. About a third of that money would come from property taxes, with rest coming from state shared revenue, fines and fees, and other sources.
The budget must be reviewed and approved by the Common Council. Meetings are set for Oct. 21 and 28, Nov. 6 and Nov. 11. The budget is expected to gain final approval at the council’s regular meeting on Nov. 18 after a public hearing.
The property-tax levy for operations will rise just over 1 percent to $2,499,974. Under state law, the operations levy for 2015 can rise by no more than the amount of net new construction in the city for 2014.
The tax levy for debt service will rise by $28,222, to $571,760.
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, whose campus is exempt from property taxes, will help out the city in other ways. The university will pay the city $169,553 in 2015 to participate in a police dispatch system that allows data to be shared quickly among city police, campus police and area sheriff’s departments.
UWW also will pay $361,850 to compensate the city for services delivered to the campus. This amount is up $5,905 from 2014.
The budget sets aside $87,000 for possible employee raises next year. Any raises will be distributed after a wage study is completed, Clapper said.
In his budget document, the city manager thanked department heads for their “diligent efforts” to maintain “very modest and responsible” spending plans for 2015.
The city budget, along with budgets for water service and water-treatment facilities, is available at the city’s Web site, www.whitewater-wi.gov, under the Finance Department tab.
In other business Tuesday, the council:
• Received a report on the Police Department’s new Cadet Program. Officer Jim Elder said the department will recruit 12 cadets from UW-Whitewater and other area schools to learn about law enforcement.
The volunteer cadets will assist with traffic control, ride along with officers and receive training in police procedures.
Elder said 26 criminal-justice students had applied so far for the 12 positions.
“This program will help us recruit some good candidates for officers,” Elder told the council. “It will allow these people to get exposure to the law-enforcement profession before they go to the police academy.”
• Heard from two top officials of the Whitewater Unified School District urging voter approval of a spending referendum Nov. 4.
District Administrator Eric Ruñez and Business Manager Nathan Jaeger noted that the referendum, if approved, would not affect the current tax levy for schools. The proposal would raise $1.2 million a year for four years, but it would replace a $600,000 operating referendum and a $600,000 project levy that are both expiring.
Spending by the district has leveled off since 2010, and employees are paying more toward health care and pensions. Money from the referendum would provide stable class sizes, student support services, new technology and maintenance, the WUSD officials said.
• Gave preliminary approval to a tree-cutting ordinance from Councilmember Ken Kidd.
The ordinance allows the city to maintain trees on private property that may pose hazards to other property or public property. Kidd said the ordinance is necessary because trees damaged by the emerald ash borer can quickly become brittle and dangerous when they die. The invasive pest has only recently been found in the area but may pose a significant threat in the near future, city officials say.