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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2020)
PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 15, 2020 Pandemic concerns make for static city budget • Community Development Director Nate Brown urged the traffic, the data simply isn’t ready. By ERIC A. HOWALD • Revenues for the city’s street funds are in limbo at the mo- members of the committee to think long and hard about expand- Of the Keizertimes ing the city’s code enforcement With so many unknowns in play for the city’s financial future, ment. Money from a 3-cent gas tax goes into program. one recurring refrain from budget talks this week was that nearly the account and gas sales are down. Repaving “At some point, as we con- River Road North from St. Edward Catho- every city department expects to save money on travel. tinue to mature, the city should Many of the regular conferences that city employees attend lic Church to Wheatland Road is the largest take a hard look at how we ad- have either been postponed, canceled or will take place online as project in the works. minister the code enforcement • Revenues for the water fund will also a result of precautions designed to limit the spread of COVID-19. program. We don’t do any of the Despite the pandemic, and some questions regarding how it likely fall in the short term. The city is not proactive stuff that other juris- will affect city revenues, Keizer will be in a relatively stable po- turning off access water to residences, but dictions do,” Brown said. “We’re sition because of the limited scope of services it supplies to res- some are falling behind on bills. Wood, the city’s finance director, said there is currently idents. — Nate Brown complaint-driven and respond to about $17,000 in utility “When you hear about other cities Community development director the issues that become significant, but there is more that could be bills that are 60 days be- making big cuts, it’s to their discretionary done.” hind payment and another areas, like libraries,” said Keizer Finance $42,000 that are behind 30 days. Director Tim Wood. “We don’t have those City Councilor Marlene Parsons questioned why the duties “The city is reaching out to arrange pay- of the code enforcement officer hadn’t shifted to development and it makes us very nimble.” ment plans and work with them. We hope to If there are cuts to be made, they will Please see BUDGET, Page A10 have them caught up by the November/De- likely occur in limiting the number of cember time period,” Wood said. capital projects the city undertakes in the Wood said that usage of online payment next fiscal year, which begins July 1. has ramped up since the civic center closed to The city anticipates an overall increase walk-in and that has increased the fees it pays in wages of about 2 to 2.5 percent, an in- to the payment processor, but it may turn out crease in insurance rates of 7 to 8 percent to be a good thing in the long run. and an uptick in spending on its wellness “If more people stick with the online pay- programs intended to encourage greater ment after the pandemic, we may be able to participation by offering up to an addi- — Tim Wood refocus the personnel time elsewhere,” he said. tional $500 a year in incentives per em- Keizer finance director In a continuation of budget talks on Tues- ployee. The city’s wellness program has day, May 12: proven to be a boon in both retaining • Members of the committee discussed the city’s general fund, employees and lowering insurance costs. Major elements discussed at the teleconferenced meeting the bulk of which goes to paying for police services and is also the fund the city has the least control over as far as revenues. Monday, May 11, included: • An uptick of about $18,000 in planned legal services spend- Its solvency is tied mainly to property tax increases (roughly 3 ing. City Attorney Shannon Johnson plans to enlist the help of percent a year) with licensing and fees making up another large outside agencies to help him catch up on projects that fell to component. • COVID-19 will have some major impacts on this fund, some the wayside in the recent years. Johnson spent several months of the past year deeply involved in a lawsuit to end the firing of good, others less heartening. On the “positive” side, there’s been no slowdown in marijuana sales – the city will collect an estimat- high-powered firearms in a quarry across the Willamette River. • The city is still not planning to purchase a human resources ed $230,000 from the sales made in Keizer, taxes on liquor sales information system more than a year after the initial need was are also trending upward to the tune of 13 percent more during made known. The cost is about $15,000 to set up and substantial- the year to date. The pandemic may end up causing significantly more harm in terms of traffic court dates being delayed and the ly less than that in continued maintenance. • Keizer Public Works Director Bill Lawyer said he planned to payments expected following suit, interruptions to minor league report on how much a new civic center HVAC system was saving baseball and, potentially, the end of the Volcanoes will likely re- the city but, because the pandemic closed the center to public duce what the city receives from the stadium lessee. “The city should take a hard look at how we administer the code en- forcement program.” “When you hear about other cities making big cuts, it’s to their discretionary areas, like libraries. We don’t have those.” THE OF HEALTHCARE Honoring Nurses Amanda Burdine, LPN The Village at Keizer Ridge Education: Institute of Technology THANK YOU to our amazing team of nurses for keeping our community healthy during this difficult time. Bridgeway is open and providing services! #BridgewayStrong SPONSORED BY 1165 McGee Ct NE, Keizer • 503.390.1300 www.villageatkeizerridge.com Dawn Pope, MSN, BSC, NRN The Village at Keizer Ridge Education: Walla Walla University Brenda Donley, Victoria Kapurara, Heather Brown, Vera Carbaugh, Jerry Stewart, Jessica Lyons, Vicki Brauer Not pictured: Chrystal Espinosa, Heather Karpan, Stefan Sicard, and Donald Davis SPONSORED BY 1165 McGee Ct NE, Keizer • 503.390.1300 www.villageatkeizerridge.com NEWS TIPS? If it's happening in Keizer, or to someone from Keizer — WE WANT TO KNOW. kt@keizertimes.com 3325 Harold Dr NE, Salem • MAIN (503) 363-2021 • DETOX SERVICES (503) 399-5597
