CITY OF
Larry Herron, Mayor
101 South Gex
Office 660-332-7166
Fax 660-332-7418
Ray Ivy, City Administrator Bobbie Ives, City Clerk
Lois Bragg, Tax Coordinator Debbie Aldridge, Utility Coordinator
Capital
Improvement Plan for the Expenditure of Sales Tax Revenue Generated from the ˝
of 1% Sales Tax Initiative.
By action of the City of
What will not be reported on the ballot is how the
generated revenue would be spent if a majority of the voters vote “Yes”. If
that is the circumstance, the revenue will be used, exclusively, for (1)
STREETS improvement and maintenance and (2) SIDEWALK improvement and
maintenance.
A Capital Improvement has the following characteristics:
1. It is expensive
2. It has a normal useful life
that is in excess of 10 years.
3. It is an expense that does not
occur annually.
4. It is an expense caused by
maintaining the improvements or acquiring a fixed asset owned by the City.
In the calendar year budget 2008, revenue from sales
tax is expected to be about $114,000. Thus, revenue from the Sales Tax
Initiative on the ballot (1/2 of 1%) would be $57,000. If we project zero
commercial growth for a 20-year period, which seems unlikely, the total revenue
generated would be $1,140,000 ($57,000 x 20). While this appears to be a
sizable amount of revenue, the scope of the streets and sidewalk plan would be
costly.
Streets and sidewalks are fixed assets, and they are
expensive to renovate and maintain. Both have a useful life in excess of ten
years, and once in place each is not a base cost that occurs each year even
though maintenance is an ongoing expense.
The City has an annual operating budget, but it does
not have a Capital Improvements Budget because we do not have funds necessary
to implement one. The 2008 operating budget consists of revenue and operating
expenses of wages and benefits and costs of operating a department. The Street
Department is a part of the Common Fund because it does not have the capability
to generate revenue. So, Streets is a department of expense only.
In 2008 the budget for Streets is $121,761, and it is comprised of $78,561 for
wages, benefits and taxes; $43,200 is operating expense. We have two full-time
employees and one summer employee in the department.
The overall condition of
Most of you travel our streets on a daily basis, and
you are aware of the most critical areas that need major work. I believe it is
reasonable to state that each street in the City has some substandard condition
that needs to be addressed. Also, in the Parkland Addition streets are gravel,
and they need to be resurfaced. A section of both Benton and Wabash Streets are
gravel.
Our sidewalk system has poor quality sections in
many locations throughout the City, and we must upgrade so that we have a
consistent surface for citizens to walk.
To accomplish a sidewalk plan will be much less expense when compared to
street work..
This letter is a commitment to the residents of La
Plata from Aldermen Perry, Johnson, McGee, Grear; Mayor Herron and City
Administrator Ivy, and that commitment is to use the revenue from a ˝ of 1%
Sales Tax Initiative solely on Capital Improvements of La Plata’s Streets and
Sidewalks and ongoing maintenance of those improvements.
While the names of Alderman, Mayor, and City
Administrator will change in time, we believe the commitment is a binding
agreement between the Citizens of La Plata and the City. We urge you to vote on
April 8, 2008 from 6:00 a.m.. to
7:00 p.m.
A Public Hearing on the Sales Tax Initiative will be
held on Tuesday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the La Plata State Bank conference
room.
Thank you.
Larry Herron, Mayor