Budget workshop centers on pay, policing staffing and infrastructure needs

City staff opened a budget workshop outlining revenue trends, one-time funding sources and multiple capital and ongoing personnel requests that council must weigh as it prepares next year's budget.

Staff said franchise revenues (electric, gas, cable, telephone) have trended downward and projected continuing declines of about 5% annually; property tax collections include an option to adopt a "no new revenue" rate and a voter-approval rate (staff quoted the voter-approval threshold as 3.5 percent) that together constrain how much new revenue can be raised without triggering a petition or election. Staff estimated the immediate new money available without triggering an election at roughly $102,000 ($30,000 from the no-new-revenue calculation and roughly $69,000 from the voter-approval threshold), and said new construction valuations could add about $30,000 under a no-new-revenue rate.

The Economic Development Corporation (EDC) wind-down was a recurring topic: staff said the half-cent EDC sales tax generates about $750,000 a year and that current obligations include roughly $2 million tied to the Votec center and other previously approved…