New city budget keeps spending, taxes flat for next fiscal year
CHEBOYGAN — Just three days before the end of the fiscal year, the Cheboygan City Council Tuesday night unanimously passed a $2.9 million budget.
The spending plan represents a slight increase over the $2.8 million the city spent in the 2022-23 period. The city did not increase or add any additional mills to property taxes for operating expenses for fiscal year 2023-24.
On a property with a taxable value of a little over $50,000, the owner paid about $692.29 in property taxes for the 2022-23 fiscal year, according to Casey Clear, executive assistant to city manager Dan Sabolsky. In the new budget year, which begins on July 1, that owner will pay $739.09 in taxes, or an increase of $46.80.
Sabolsky said the cost of benefits for city employees is rising with health insurance premiums scheduled to increase from 8% to 12% while premiums for workman's compensation are expected to rise by $60,000 next year. However, the cost of long-and short-term disability insurance and dental and vision coverage will decline to temper those increases.
In the 2023-24 budget, spending on the police department is expected to come in at around $1.13 million, edging up from this year's $1.1 million. The fire department is projected to post a slight decrease in spending to $223,000 from $236,000 this year.
At the end of the 2023-24 budget the city is projected to have reserves totaling about $1.7 million, or nearly six months of operating expenses. Sabolsky said these funds can be used to cover matching fund requirements for grants, equipment purchases now and in the future, and for any emergencies that arise.
"Over the last three years we will (have invested) from $35 million to $40 million in infrastructure improvements," Sabolsky said, with much of the funds coming from government grants and low-interest loans.
This fiscal year, Sabolsky said a $20 million upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant will be completed and a new water tower will be added while an existing one will be rehabilitated. The city will also fix the water and sewer lines on Mill Street along with rebuilding the road.
The same improvements will be made to Bailey and Ball streets, according to Sabolsky.
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Some council members expressed frustration that the city was dealing with the budget just days before the June 30 end to the fiscal year. Others wanted more detailed information on the proposed spending plan.
Sabolsky said he had warned council members that this budget would not get done until late June. Two months ago the city brought in the accounting and consulting firm of Rehmann to bolster its budgeting process and software capabilities to provide the additional budget information council members were seeking.
The new budget will almost surely need to be amended by Dec. 31, added Sabolsky.
— Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: New city budget keeps spending, taxes flat for next fiscal year
