City Council Meets for Budget Workshop

The Sidney City Council and department managers met Aug. 17 to discuss the 2021-2022 budget.

The meeting included a presentation by City Manager David Scott on the two recent years.

“The last few fiscal year's budgets have been challenging. In fiscal years 2019 and 2020 there were large budget cuts across the board as property tax revenue was reduced due to large decreases in the city's full value determination (assessed value),” Scott said in his presentation to the council.

He added that some cuts were so deep services were reduced or eliminated.

The 2021-2022 budget is based on the assumption the property taxes will not go down again. Scott said early valuations show business assessments down some, but residential assessments up three to seven percent.

In the Aug. 17 budget workshop, Sidney City Manager David Scott said all funds “went up a little bit.”

Budget discussion from Aug. 17 included how to proceed with the 5 cent local option sales tax. City Manager David Scott said the tax will come up for public vote in 2023. The council will need to consider how to proceed with the vote, how to market it to voters. In previous elections, the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce has supported the tax.

The Aug. 17 discussion included the housing study and its impact on the city. Scott said the City plans to leverage the results to bring state and federal funds to Sidney to stimulate the housing market.

“My vision is to increase the variety of housing options and form partnerships to share the development risk as well as use other methods such as micro TIF to rehabilitate and preserve the current housing market,” Scott said in a written statement.

Legislative Bill 1021was introduced by State Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, who referred to it a “micro-TIF” measure. TIF, or tax-increment financing, has been used to encourage commercial redevelopment projects in the past. The mechanism allows developers to pay property taxes on the redevelopment valuation for a fixed number of years.

Scott said discussions at the Aug. 16 housing meeting including TIF, public and private funding.

“We know there's a problem. We want to be proactive,” Scott said. “We really can't fail.”

Projects Scott listed in addition to the housing study include the East Old Post Road trail project, and painting Camp Lookout. The East Old Post Road trail project is the result of a tax fund from Cabela's designated for the trail system adjacent to Old Post Road. The fund was closed with a balance of more than $700,000. Camp Lookout is an historic building north of Hickory Street dating back to 1867 when soldiers from Fort Sedgwick were stationed there to protect railroad workers.

The council also discussed City wages and how to attract new employees.

“We just can't get people. We're like every other business trying to get by with what we have,” Scott said.

He said the City's seasonal wage of $10 an hour isn't working. He said the employment environment could get further complicated if the $15 per hour minimum wage ballot issue passes.

“If that happens we're going to have a whole different conversation,” he said.

Police Chief Joe Aikens said his department is looking for answers as well.

“We're struggling like everyone else,” Aikens said.

He said Sidney and other departments are offering incentives and sign-on bonuses and still struggle to be fully staffed. Scott suggested the City considering contracting with a hiring firm.

In the Electric Department discussion, department superintend Mike Palmer talked about the need for a more reliable transmission and a backup generator. In the 2019 Master Plan, improvement projects addressing power generation and transmission were included at a total estimated cost of about $8.2 million. Palmer asked the council to consider a back-up generator. The power plan generates about 5 MW; used as back-up only. The city's electricity comes through MEAN sources. He said it is possible the City could locate a used generator.

“There is a market for used generators,” Palmer said.

He said the first step would be contracting with an engineer.

Scott also said he is researching options for the City's health care program.