Steven Spearie
The State Journal-Register
With 23 amendments to the fiscal year 2023 budget for Springfield City Council members to consider at a special meeting Tuesday, budget director William McCarty joked that the calculator on his phone is going to get a workout.
Before hearings began, McCarty called it“a once-in-a-lifetime” corporate fund budget. Estimates show the city will close the fiscal year Feb. 28 with about a $17 million operating surplus and boost the reserves to over $50 million.
The $179 million balanced budget does not include layoffs or furloughs and is 28% greater than last year’s budget.
The corporate fund is the primary operating fund for the city and supports police, fire, public works, office of budget and management, human resources, planning and economic development and the offices of the mayor, treasurer, clerk, and council. It excludes City Water, Light and Power.
Proposals about building new firehouses could dominate discussions.
An amendment from Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin would remove $8 million designated for construction of new firehouses from the corporate fund balance.
Originally, there was $12 million in the budget for the construction of up to four firehouses, but another proposed amendment from the office of budget and management takes $2 million from that line item to put towards purchasing six fire engines and a firetruck at a cost of $6.2 million.
Each of the amendments, McCarty said, could have an impact on the budget.
Here are some proposals to watch:
New firehouses
McMenamin said he wasn’t opposed to future the building of firehouses–the original budget allowed for the building of four of them — though he wanted more input from council members.
“We need to have a really good discussion (Tuesday) to see where everybody is at,” McMenamin said. “I think the pieces are kind of moving around and we don’t know where they’re going to end up.”
Mayor Jim Langfelder has argued that some firehouses are more than 60 years old and the last new one built was during the administration of his father, Mayor Oswald “Ossie” Langfelder.
An appropriation, McMenamin said, just sets money aside.
“It doesn’t spend the money,” he added. “In the case of the new firehouses, even if we appropriate $10 million, it’s not a done deal yet because that $10 million is just sitting there. It will require future votes to buy the real estate. It will require future votes to have a construction contract, so at any point in time, even if we appropriate the money, the council will still have an opportunity to say no.”
As for future construction, “we gather the monies together a year from now and think what’s best on what we know in 12 months from now,” McMenamin said.
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Fire equipment
The OBM amendment for purchasing equipment for the fire department shaves $2 million from the line item for the firehouse buildings.
As detailed at last week’s city council meeting, the other funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and a loan, McCarty said.
With an engine and a truck secured from the 2022 budget, the proposed purchases from the 2023 budget would replace eight rigs 20 years or older.
A report on the SFD from the Center for Public Safety Management, LLC, suggested equipment should be replaced after 15 years.
“I’m completely in agreement with the mayor’s idea of $6.2 million for fire equipment,” McMenamin said. “It shows a really positive response to the discussions that we’ve had and the (presentation) that (SFD Chief Brandon Blough) gave.”
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Where, when is the meeting?
The special budget meeting is in city council chambers, 800 E. Monroe St. (third floor) at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Council’s committee of the whole meeting will follow. To review the FY23 budget amendments, go to city’s website here.
Joe McMenamin for Ward 7 