The budget hearings continued at Lisbon City Council during the month of January, with multiple departments making requests for the coming fiscal year.
Historical preservation Historic preservation’s request was similar to last year’s request for funding.
Rebecca Hess asked if there was any of the insurance money left over from the stabilization of the barns that could be allocated for work with a preservation plan architectural firm in Des Moines.
“Even $24,000 could go a long way towards matching grants we could receive for the barns and other items at nature park,” Hess said.
City administrator Brandon Siggins said that insurance distributions from the barns came into the general fund for the city, and a number of projects were tackled by the city at nature park, including rebuilding the damaged gazebo and repairing the barn roof damage
There is $10,000 earmarked for the barns in the budget already, but the projects like the Library’s exterior wall, the west wall of the Lisbon History Center and the barns all come from the same portion of the general fund.
Siggins said the city needs to come to a consensus of what projects need to be tackled with that limited pool of money.
Hess asked that previous council minutes be reviewed to clarify if the money received from insurance went to the barns.
Siggins said he thought it was only approved for the work that Blinks Construction was completing on the barns.
Discussion by the council and Historic Preservation Commission continued on the importance of the barns to the Nature Park project.
Siggins said that in the derecho, the barns were listed as totaled for the payout that has been stabilizing the historic barns, and he wants to investigate what it would take to reinsure those buildings before more money is spent on them.
“If we can’t reinsure those buildings, I’m not sure I want to pour any more city money into the barns,” council member Nathan Smith said.
Siggins will investigate the past council minutes and report at the next council meeting what the insurance money was earmarked for.
LibraryRetiring library director Amy White said she wanted to thank the City of Lisbon for their support over the years for the library program.
“I’m proud of the library that we built together in this community,” White said. “I’ve really appreciated the support I’ve had over the years from the city. I’ve worked with many city council members, city administrators, mayors and clerks, and they’ve all helped the library get where it is today. I’ve always got what I asked for and always got what I wanted. Sometimes, what I wanted changed from the initial ask, but it has benefitted the library in this community.”
White said she has spoken via phone and email with incoming director Elizbeth Hoover de Galvez, and that Hoover de Galvez is excited to continue the partnerships and plans Lisbon has currently and will hit the ground running.
The library’s request was for a 3 percent increase, with the largest portion going to address gas, electric and insurance increases.
Local Option Sales and Service taxThe biggest new expense for the city is replacing a fire engine in the next three years.
Siggins said the city has nearly $945,000 unused in Local Option Slaes and Service Tax (LOSST) funds. The city takes in roughly $390,000 in LOSST revenues each year.
Budgeted for this year in the fund was street lights at $37,000, insurance at $30,000, fireworks for Lisbon Sauerkraut Days at $3,000, youth programs at Southeast Linn Community center at $4,000, Dolly Parton Imagination Library at $1,000 and $400,000 to the sports complex. That’s $475,000 in expenses, leaving roughly 50 percent in the fund.
Siggins and Dan Patten from the fire department explained why they were looking to get a fire engine on order before July 1.
With July 1, fire engines will have to move to a different engine.
“They’re looking to move away from the L9 engines,” Patten said. “There’s a $70,000 increase with the new emissions engines they are moving towards. If we are to order before July 1, we can lock in one of the last L9 engines.”
Council member John Bardsley said he was worried about being one of the first departments on a brand-new engine.
The city would be looking at a new pumper/tanker for the department to be the style of truck they are replacing, with a total cost of $650,000.
Siggins was looking to use $150,000 of LOSST for the new truck this year while utilizing some of the amount for the truck in the fire department budget, and similar amounts over the next two or three years from LOSST.
The council asked him to look at the options for potentially bonding that project or phase II of the Lisbon Sports Complex and present that at next council meeting, understanding that bonding comes with fees and interest costs.
Siggins said he thinks the city should use LOSST for one of those two projects.
The truck that the city is looking to replace has a chassis from 1999 and a tank built in 1989, and that any new truck would take two to three years to complete from the order.
History center Repairs made to the west wall reduced the budget for the Lisbon History Center. Increases were to reflect gas, insurance and electricity.
City hallSiggins said the exterior wall and window work is slated to complete this fiscal year, but if not, the budget may be amended to reflect that completion.
WebsiteThe city website will see an increase in costs, going from $1,000 annually to $3,500 annually. Christina Eicher, city clerk, said that with the Nixle service built in to the current website, citizens may need to sign up via the website for notifications. That could wash the Nixle cost the city is currently paying.
Cable TVThe franchise fee with Mediacom is seeing lower revenues, and Siggins said the city may have to visit with Mechanicsville Telephone Company about a franchise fee on their service.
SignA lighted sign was one of the projects being investigated outside city hall, with $25,000 designated for LOSST funds. It’s a project that has been discussed for years by the city, and would be a way to communicate a number of messages and reminders for the city.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said mayor Doug O’Connor. “People read the signs on banks all the time, and this is a way to communicate things to the public.”
Downtown reinvestmentThe Downtown Reinvestment Grant will receive $20,000 again next year. This year was the first the city came close to utilizing all the matching grant money in that fund. Discussion revolved around the distribution of funds and those held until the end of the fiscal year.
At Jan. 8’s meeting, budget discussions were held on roads, water, sewer, solid waste, parks and recreation
RoadsWhile salaries saw a slight increase for the roads budget, as well as insurance, city administrator Brandon Siggins said expenditures are going to be down to $327,000 compared to this year’s $347,000. Part of that is a number of projects being finished this year. Tackling repairs to city streets following the recent water main project is one of the larger planned expenses this year. The city anticipates receiving roughly $350,000 in road use tax funds for the year as well.
WaterSiggins said he is checking with Maggie Burger with Speer Financial to see if water and sewer rates need to see any increase this year.
“I’ve currently built the budget with no increase of revenues for the year, but if we need to increase to help pay for the water and sewer bonds, we will make that change,” Siggins said.
The budget was reduced as there were three projects being tackled by Lisbon crews this year as opposed to bidding them privately.
“These projects would be $300,000 if we were bidding them privately,” Siggins said. “Right now, we have $70,000 for the supplies and then our crews work on these projects, which could be a significant savings for the city.”
That cost includes the necessary rentals for equipment.
There is a $10,000 request for more water radio meter reads. That project is currently 85 percent complete for the city.
The expenses this year are estimated at $501,380, with revenues estimated at $470,000. There are funds that can be transferred in for some of the water main project.
SewerRevenues are slated for $380,000. Again Speer Financial is investigating if rates need to increase.
There is a slight increase for training and staff development, but a decrease for maintenance and utilities.
Sludge removal is $21,000 per time, established over the past several years.
There is also a $10,000 request for sewer radio meter read equipment.
The project for a sewer at the sports complex was not included in the bid, but that could be something tackled this year.
Expenses are slated for $401,550. Like the water budget, there is an ability to transfer funds to tackle some of the projects.
Siggins said the city will be trying to pay down some sewer debt bonds this June, which will lower future payments the city is making by $35,000.
Solid waste Siggins did investigate what it would cost for the city to run their own garbage route. The cost for canisters is roughly $45,000, and a truck would be $390,000. The route would take one person, if no other projects are being tackled by public works.
Siggins said that estimate does not account for the dumping fee for trash and any proceeds from recycling.
The warnings he got is because of emission standards for trucks, that can place them out of commission.
“When that happens, until the issue is fixed, that truck can be out of commission,” Siggins said.
Siggins did admit the city has been having ongoing issues with Johnson County Waste since August 2023. The city currently pays roughly $241,000 for contracted services with the company, which was recently purchased by Lakeshore Recycling of Chicago. That is when the issues arose with solid waste.
“I’m doing the best I can to work with them,” Siggins said.
The city remains under contract with them to June 28.
Siggins said he could investigate new contracts for other services as well, but if the city wanted to move to their own trash service, he wanted council to have these estimates.
Parks and recreationThe parks expenses are slated for $161,400 for the year, including $3,500 for playground equipment.
“That is a joint project between the Lisbon 4-H club and the City of Lisbon,” said parks and recreation director Drayton Kamberling. “They are wanting to raise half the costs to increase handicap accessible park equipment and a picnic bench, and we would pay the other half of the fee. We are looking to add two handicap accessible picnic benches and one piece of handicap accessible equipment to the park this year.”
The recreation budget will be $48,400, roughly $2,000 less than last year. A portion of that reduction was the equipment for Halloweentown, which was updated in 2023.
Ambulance serviceThe only increase slated for the department was the salary for the ambulance director.
Jacob Lindauer, director of Lisbon Mount Vernon Ambulance Service, said the service will be purchasing a new ambulance and SUV this year, but those expenses come from either grants or revenues the department has on hand, a $340,000 savings for both communities. They responded to 988 calls for service and were paged 1008 times this past year. The 20 calls unanswered were for transfers that would have impacted the ability to have a service for the community in case of an emergency.
“Our biggest concern is to continue to serve our aging and growing communities,” Lindauer said.
“Having such excellent ambulance and fire departments in both our communities is a huge selling point,” said O’Connor.
Fire department bylaws change The council approved language changes to the bylaws and constitution of the Lisbon Fire Department to add the second assistant chief position, who will focus on training for the department. The move is a budget neutral decision.