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Public works budget proposes equipment replacements, higher recycling costs and new nuisance-abatement expenses
Summary
Public works staff outlined several department requests including a $250,000 wheel loader, a $150,000 dump-truck replacement paid from the vehicle-replacement fund, a 13% budgeted increase in recycling haulage, a $50,000 landfill-fee shift and a $110,000 backhoe for nuisance abatement.
Public works representative Lehi reviewed central services and division-level requests for the general fund, describing equipment replacements, contract changes and line-item reallocations.
Lehi clarified that a planned $150,000 replacement for an International dump truck (truck No. 24) will be paid from the vehicle replacement fund and therefore does not appear in the operating pages under the general fund. He said forestry's budget includes a $250,000 wheel-loader purchase to replace a unit with about 11,000 hours of service.
The recycling budget was increased about 13% in the proposed numbers to budget for more hauled loads to the Quincy recycling sites; Lehi said the line is a projection and that staff prefer to budget conservatively rather than return for a supplemental appropriation. He also noted an additional $45,000 for heated mats at the Home Depot drop-off site.
Lehi said paint-and-sign and nuisance-abatement pages show apparent salary accounting changes driven by full assignment of base-pay line items after the city's transition to a new general-ledger system. He emphasized the nuisance-abatement increase includes a $50,000 transfer for landfill fees previously paid from the garbage enterprise fund and a proposed $110,000 backhoe purchase to avoid continued equipment borrowing.
Lehi noted the brush-compost contractor has one year remaining on its contract, the city is completing compost operations at the wastewater plant, and those changes may affect future negotiations.
Ending
Council members asked whether shifting landfill fees will reduce the garbage subsidy; staff confirmed the subsidy will decrease as those costs move to nuisance abatement. No formal action occurred at the presentation.
