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State: Keokuk fund transfer was illegal
By Steve Dunn/Gate City Managing Editor
The Keokuk City Council's transfer of $155,000 from the property tax relief fund to the general fund earlier this year was illegal, the State Appeal Board ruled Tuesday.
The issue was raised by council member Brent Fellows in the form of a budget protest after the council approved an $11.9 million budget for the new fiscal year starting July 1.
Fellows said this morning he was pleased with the ruling.
"There's no task too tough that we can't accomplish if we work together," he added.
Now city officials must decide how to fill the hole left by the state's decision.
"I believe it can be done without more layoffs, although it may involve some transfers," Fellows said. "One of my ideas is to eliminate the full-time parks department and go to seasonal employment and move the two full-time park personnel to proprietary areas such as sewer, garbage or roads and not the general fund. We can cross utilize personnel, too."
Fellows also said he wouldn't rule out further cuts to the Keokuk Public Library's funding. Asked if the library's funding should be cut as much as $100,000 as discussed in January, he said, "We should do what we have to do."
As for the municipal pool, he indicated he favors doing what Mayor David Gudgel and Public Works Director Bill Richards recommended: shorter hours of operation and higher fees. The city council enacted those measures at its last regular meeting.
Asked if the council should borrow money to make up for the shortfall, Fellows said, "Absolutely not because it's not an option. You'd have to borrow every year."
Ultimately, the only way to increase the city's revenue is broaden the tax base, he agreed.
"If the city continues not to get economic development, then it will mean even more reductions in personnel," he said. "Raising property taxes is not how you get revenue growth in the long run."
Council member and Finance Committee chairman Mal Mullin expressed a different viewpoint.
"I'm sorry the state ruled against us," Mullin said this morning.
He also ruled out more layoffs and said borrowing from an outside lender is the city's only option at this point even though that will mean increasing the debt service levy's tax rate.
"I don't see where we've accomplished a thing," he added.
Reacting to Fellows' suggestions of cutting library funding further, Mullin said, "The citizens should get all the services they are entitled to. We hit the library back in January. I don't want to balance the budget on any one department's back."
He added, "I feel sorry for the other communities that have used this way of doing it."
Gudgel declined to comment on the State Appeal Board's decision this morning, saying the city had not received a copy of the ruling yet.
The issue was raised by council member Brent Fellows in the form of a budget protest after the council approved an $11.9 million budget for the new fiscal year starting July 1.
Fellows said this morning he was pleased with the ruling.
"There's no task too tough that we can't accomplish if we work together," he added.
Now city officials must decide how to fill the hole left by the state's decision.
"I believe it can be done without more layoffs, although it may involve some transfers," Fellows said. "One of my ideas is to eliminate the full-time parks department and go to seasonal employment and move the two full-time park personnel to proprietary areas such as sewer, garbage or roads and not the general fund. We can cross utilize personnel, too."
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As for the municipal pool, he indicated he favors doing what Mayor David Gudgel and Public Works Director Bill Richards recommended: shorter hours of operation and higher fees. The city council enacted those measures at its last regular meeting.
Asked if the council should borrow money to make up for the shortfall, Fellows said, "Absolutely not because it's not an option. You'd have to borrow every year."
Ultimately, the only way to increase the city's revenue is broaden the tax base, he agreed.
"If the city continues not to get economic development, then it will mean even more reductions in personnel," he said. "Raising property taxes is not how you get revenue growth in the long run."
Council member and Finance Committee chairman Mal Mullin expressed a different viewpoint.
"I'm sorry the state ruled against us," Mullin said this morning.
He also ruled out more layoffs and said borrowing from an outside lender is the city's only option at this point even though that will mean increasing the debt service levy's tax rate.
"I don't see where we've accomplished a thing," he added.
Reacting to Fellows' suggestions of cutting library funding further, Mullin said, "The citizens should get all the services they are entitled to. We hit the library back in January. I don't want to balance the budget on any one department's back."
He added, "I feel sorry for the other communities that have used this way of doing it."
Gudgel declined to comment on the State Appeal Board's decision this morning, saying the city had not received a copy of the ruling yet.
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