Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Council approves $17.2 million budget, keeping a pay increase for employees, making changes to a funding source for Senior Taxi, and moving $5,000 more to IT position.
The City of Muskego 2013 budget will keep intact a pay increase for city employees, which was really the only point of prolonged discussion by the Common Council in approving the $17,195,385 proposal to run the city for the coming year. Alderman Kert Harenda said he was in favor of the one percent cost of living increase, but raised an objection to the merit increase that was part of the $85,000 package. However other aldermen on the council felt that previous discussion had already settled the issue, and it was never brought to a vote. The council approved Alderman Rob Glazier's requested shift of $5,000 from the parks budget for tree trimming in Idle Isle Park to the position being sought for a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Short and sweet budget presentation and a public hearing without public speakers reveals little change to taxpayer's bottom line
Residents had their turn to speak out about the proposed 2013 budget, and while members of citizen's group Stand Up Muskego were part of about 20 residents who came out to hear what the impact would be, no one spoke when the public hearing was opened. The meeting opened with a brief presentation on the budget overview by City Finance Manager Sharon Mueller. Alderman Dan Soltysiak also read two letters from residents wanting to weigh in on the budget. Resident Kathy McGillis expressed suppport for the Racine Avenue recreational trail, and Tom Bykowski expressed his opposition to a proposed one percent cost of living increase for city employees. "I don't believe Muskego employees shouldn't get raises while their constituents are struggling…
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Along with minor facelifts at park, paving will expand parking and is approved during Committee of the Whole's latest chapter in the budget process; public will get a chance to weigh in Oct. 22.
Idle Isle has come under fire as being a neglected park, and the Committee of the Whole agreed, approving recommended improvements for the park in 2013. A previous walk-through meeting of the Parks Board, which included aldermen and the mayor, helped to point out areas of need in the park, which many have felt needed more attention than it had been getting. Improvements will include paving and extending the existing parking area to include 20 additional spots at a cost of $30,000. This is hoped to alleviate overflow parking at a lot two blocks away. In addition, dumpster enclosures will be renovated for $1,750, and additional paving will be done to improve existing paths as well as create a new path between the parking area and the …
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Parks Board tours Idle Isle Park, with possible additions for the Common Council to consider for the 2013 budget
Idle Isle Park has a lot on its shoulders, and some Common Council members feel it could use some help with the heavy lifting. It functions as a prime access for boaters wishing to launch and park on Little Muskego lake, snowmobilers and ice fishermen in winter, green space for picnickers, and the only beach front for public swimming on the lake. So, after requests came in from Parks director Craig Anderson during the budget process, Alderman Neil Borgman felt the lake park was left out in comparison to its younger but bigger brother, Park Arthur. The only improvement originally requested for Idle Isle Park was replacing the ADA accessible pier at a cost of $63,000 versus more than $1 million in requests for Park Arthur in 2013. Anderson …
Monday, August 27, 2012
An aging controls system that regulates the temperature in the two city buildings has come to the end of its lifespan, and now one has failed, prompting an earlier-than-hoped request to fund replacement.
A visit from George Wolwark, who is Muskego's maintenance man, at the budget meeting on Wednesday wasn't necessarily planned, but deteriorating conditions with the control systems that operate heating and cooling (HVAC) prompted an early request, and it may cost more than $100,000. Wolwark explained that the controls for the library and city hall boilers and chillers are aging, and he had been working on a proposal to anticipate a failure. However, as a failure has already occurred with the library's controls, he told the Committee of the Whole that the request can't wait for 2013. "Right now the library's system, which was installed in 2000, has failed, and it's now running in a default setting," he explained. While it's not 90 degrees …
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Aldermen feel the public is growing impatient with how long it's taking to finish park on Muskego's north side, so they approve spending, add $300K to the initial request
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Committee of Whole will start scrutinizing capital budget, which begins a long process of reviewing spending requests.
The 2013 budget process for the city starts on Thursday, with a special meeting of the Committee of the Whole reviewing the capital expenditures portion of the budget. Capital projects include the purchase of equipment or property for a future benefit to the city. The committee will meet in the Alderman's room of City Hall at 6 p.m. Additional budget sessions have been scheduled for Wednesday, August 22 and Tuesday, August 28 at 6 p.m. The public is invited to sit in on these sessions.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Dozens of items are listed, and with funding sources nearly tapped out, budget request for 2013 might be a big one.
Craig Anderson, the city's director of parks and recreation, has mentioned it in previous meetings, but how well everyone was listening will be known at budget time. A growing need for various items to maintain Muskego's parks, along with a new venture at Park Arthur, and a dwindling balance in the park dedication fund will mean a larger than normal request at budget time. "Tax dollars just aren't used to develop our parks," Anderson told the Park and Recreation Board last week. "Our usual funding sources are also nearly spent, with the park dedication fund down to $150,000 and only 10 percent of the landfill revenues are earmarked for parks." Anderson outlined a list of needs, prioritizing it from greatest needs to those that can wait …
Rob Glazier
10:00 am on Thursday, October 25, 2012
Hi Denise, just to clarify; the $5,000 reallocation is intended to go to the position of Systems Administrator. This is an open position that is critical to keeping the myriad of applications / systems across City Hall, Police, Library, etc running. The job has been open for sometime as the City seeks to be competitive in it's recruiting efforts. Thought was / is that the $5,000 could be added to… more ›