City council reviewing 2023 appropriations
COSHOCTON − The City of Coshocton is looking at increases in some areas for 2023 based on funding requests, but its projected appropriations for next year are not too far off from this year.
Coshocton City Council is expect to vote on approving the appropriations at its regular meeting on Dec. 12.
The total for all funds is a bit more than $24.7 million with the general fund representing about $5.3 million. Auditor Sherry Kirkpatrick always stresses appropriations are permission to spend and not all departments spend what's allotted to them in a given year. She said usually the budget comes in under the approved appropriations and adjustments are made throughout the year as needed.
Among those asking for more funding was property code maintenance and demolition at $50,000, up from $25,000 in the past. Mayor Mark Mills said the extra money requested would be preliminary in case the city would come into a property that needed razed and cleaned up. He also said part of it would be for outside mowing. The city uses seasonal help now for landscaping work, but is looking to bid it out this summer as it's getting harder to find part-time seasonal workers, Mills said.
Engineering under general administration went up from $3,600 to $15,000. This is due to the death of Harold Hitchens in August, who did a lot of work for free for the city in that field, Kirkpatrick said.
The city also has a request from Our Town Coshocton for $20,000 to help with operations, up from $10,000 given in the past.
Mills also asked for the addition of $110,000 for consulting to retain Strategic Public Partners (SPP) of Columbus. The city hired the consultation and lobbying firm this year. It offers assistance in public affairs, public relations, government relations and issue management.
Kirkpatrick said the general fund budget the past two years has been just a bit under $5 million. While she's not too worried for the coming year, she said the general fund carryover could be down $200,000 to $300,000 going into 2024. The projected carryover into next year is $800,000 to $900,000, Kirkpatrick said.
"We just have to be aware where our revenue is at and our expenses do keep climbing," she said.
In other council news:
∎ Council is consulting with SPP on assistance with a matching funds program through the Department of Housing and Urban Development for painting of homes and other work. There also programs through HUD related to renting to own and more helping low income individuals. Councilman Chad Johnson said they're trying to figure out how the various programs work and how they go about getting funding.
∎ Utilities Director Dave Kadri said his department has made repairs on eight broken fire hydrants to return them to service. Eight more require replacement valves. More are being checked with assistance from the Coshocton Fire Department.
∎ Mills said the city is still in negotiations with its insurance carrier regarding possible rate increases to the city for the coming year.
∎ Mills had talks with the city's contracted trash hauler, Kimble Companies, about a three-year contract extension. He said Kimble was open to speaking with council members to address concerns and issues. Mills said the extension would be $2 more per customer than now, but that was likely much lower than a new contract with a different firm.
∎ Mills said the public works department is working overtime and weekends to collect leaves. Mills said this is a free service the city provides that many municipalities don't offer. He said the biggest issue is leaves clogging storm sewers, hence the city wanting to collect them.
∎ A vacant lot owned by the city near the intersection of Hickory and Main streets was sold for $3,600 to Matt Parsons and Paul Gilbert, who own the Frew Building.
∎ Mills said he's continuing to pursue acquiring the old Carnegie Library building and returning it to public use with the current owners. He said this will be a winter project for him.
∎ Councilman Chad Johnson said there are two concerts booked so far for the summer concert series. One will be June 24 and the other July 15. He's unable to announce the acts yet. The goal is to have four. They're in talks with two more. Johnson would hope to make a full announcement after the first of the year. He's also hoping to have food trucks for the concerts.
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: City council reviewing 2023 appropriations
