City Matters -- Winter 2005-2006
By Alice Norris, Mayor
“Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.” —Henry Kissinger
AS YOU KNOW, your City has been battling some severe financial problems for the past several years. The Good News is: we have made significant progress in plugging the holes and restoring sound financial footing. We haven’t yet begun to build back lost programs (library hours, staff for neighborhood associations, police officers) but we can now approach future decisions with optimism. I commend the creativity and hard work of the staff and my fellow decision-makers in maintaining a tough stance on spending and accomplishing this tremendous turn-around.
What have we done?
A major example of the actions we have taken is the refinancing of our PERS liability through a pooled bond sale. This will save the city $9.2 million over 23 years, or an average of approximately $402,000 per year! It will infuse an additional $200,000 annually into our General Fund. David Wimmer, our Finance Director, deserves huge kudos for orchestrating the sale.
Other recent financial actions are:
We have negotiated a host fee agreement with Tri City Wastewater Treatment Plant, due to the expansion of the sewer treatment facility on our waterfront. This will generate approximately $188,000 per year when this program begins, possibly as early as July 2006. This time frame is dependent upon many partnerships.
We are undertaking an energy audit to produce savings.
Coupled with the major budget cuts we made in June at the end of the last fiscal year, these actions have produced stronger financial health. So where do we go from here?
We have just gained an admission ticket to a more difficult problem! Now we must turn our attention from red ink to solving our difficult problems: understaffing, especially in the police department; library at ½ hours; cramped city hall; closed South End Fire Station; and lack of funds for planning
in a growing city.
Solving these problems will involve revisiting together our vision for the city, plotting our budget strategies for rebuilding necessary services, and setting benchmarks or service standards for city services.
As always, we welcome your ideas as we roll up our sleeves to begin another chapter in Oregon City’s history.