City Council hears positive financial report

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council heard some positive financial news and also introduced legislation related to a street reconstruction project between Fox and Ervin roads on South Washington Street.

Mayor Don Farmer and City Auditor Martha Balyeat both had financial positives to report on Monday, with the mayor noting that city income tax revenues continue to increase, with revenues up $162,569.45 over 2014 for this year.

“We’re showing some major improvements,” Mayor Farmer said.

The mayor also announced that the Van Wert City Economic Development Office would be having a special meeting from 8-11 a.m. Friday, June 19, while a certification celebration for the Jobs Ready Site north of the city will be held at noon that day at the site.

Balyeat noted that the city has spent approximately $102,000 less than it has taken in this year, which she said, “is always good.”

While most city financial news was positive, Balyeat did say she had some concerns about the fact that city sales and service revenue — fees the city charges for EMS runs and building permits, for example — is down so far this year.

EMS runs alone are approximately $12,000 lower than at this point last year, although Balyeat said she wasn’t sure if that was because of fewer runs or whether the soft billing the city uses for EMS fees is just behind a month.

“We’ll just have to wait and see if that number goes back up,” the auditor said.

Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming noted that the West Main Street reconstruction project is on schedule, and also reminded city residents that four railroad crossings would be closed a portion of this week for reconstruction work.

The Jefferson and Wall street crossings will be closed from today until Friday, while the Washington and Shannon Street crossings will close from Wednesday through Saturday morning.

Streets and Alleys Committee Chair Steve Trittschuh also talked about a proposal to mandate that Van Wert residents use biodegradable leaf bags in the fall, noting that city workers are now having to dump the bags out and place the bags in a landfill, while using biodegradable leaf bags would save both time and landfill space.

Later in the fairly brief meeting, City Council approved legislation authorizing a number of fund transfers and supplemental appropriations, and also voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance giving the city’s go-ahead for the South Washington Street reconstruction project.

Cost of the project is $2.82 million, with the city paying 20 percent and the state 80 percent of the cost.