Urbana's City Budget appears to be getting a positive reception according to yesterday's News-Gazette:
Urbana council members voice support for mayor's proposed budgetFull article with more details here. The day before the News-Gazette had a more detailed breakdown of the proposed budget available here.
The city council expressed mainly favorable views on the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year when it was presented at Monday night's meeting.
Mayor Diane Marlin's proposal has cuts that are slated to save the city about $600,000. A public hearing on it is set for June 4; the council will vote on it June 18.
Marlin said the city is working to regain financial stability after having expenditures outpace revenue, the ongoing Carle Foundation Hospital property-tax case and continued fallout from the state budget impasse that ended last year.
One of the biggest cuts is to close the Urbana Civic Center at 108 E. Water St., which Marlin said operates at a loss of $40,000 to $50,000 a year. Little has been done to maintain the building after it was built in the 1970s, and she said the city can't afford to renovate it now.
"It's painful ... especially for my constituents, because they go there a lot," Alderman Aaron Ammons said about the center. "I do agree with the mayor, though. It's definitely unfortunate that the maintenance wasn't kept up with."
Another proposed cut is to reduce funding for the Urbana Free Library by $55,400 annually. Chris Scherer, director of the library's board, said the reductions won't result in cuts to staff or operating hours at this time.
One option Marlin picked to increase city revenues is to raise parking-meter rates for downtown streets and lots. Those would increase from 25 to 50 cents per hour and be enforced from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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