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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us May 20, 2005 Committee OKs Ashland budget AFN debt remains at center of debate By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings An Ashland Citizens’ Budget Committee majority voted 8-5 to recommend approval of an $88 million city budget for the fiscal year that begins in July. The Ashland City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget during their regular meeting that begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7, in the Ashland Civic Center Council Chambers, 1175 E. Main St. The owner of a home with an assessed value of $300,000 would pay $16 less per year under the new budget. The city plans to actually raise the basic property tax rate by 5.36 cents per $1,000 in assessed value, but the city is paying off water bond levies that total 20.36 cents per $1,000, leading to the net reduction. The budget committee is made up of residents and members of the city council, including the mayor. Residents James Bond, Kathleen Mackris and Lynn Thompson joined Mayor John Morrison and Councilors Cate Hartzell, Kate Jackson, Jack Hardesty and Alex Amarotico in supporting the budget. Councilor Russ Silbiger and citizen members Marty Levine, Raymond Olsen, Jim Moore and David Williams voted against the budget because of concerns over the Ashland Fiber Network, the city’s financially-troubled cable television and high-speed Internet service. Silbiger, who voted last week to approve the individual AFN budget, said he was concerned too much money now was being budgeted for computer services that serve all city departments, and more of that spending should be attributed to AFN. Last week, the city council approved hiring a new interim leader for AFN in the hopes of making the service more competitive. Current AFN and Electric Department Director Dick Wanderscheid will turn his full attention to the electric department. The new budget includes $125,000 in salary and benefits for the AFN head, who will be known as the information technology director. Benefits typically equal 45 percent of a salary, according to Ashland Finance Director Lee Tuneberg. Hartzell said the council is using the expertise of community members — especially those in the telecommunications industry — to continue exploring options for AFN’s future. “We will get the numbers and make a reasoned decision,” Hartzell said. But Levine worried that AFN’s situation would not improve and the budget committee would again be faced with AFN deficits. “A year from now, I hope we’re not sitting here damn sorry we didn’t do something sooner,” he said. Also last week, the city council approved using electric department funds to cover AFN’s shortfalls in being able to make payments on the $15.5 million, 20-year loan taken out in 2004 to cover construction and operations expenses. AFN’s projected deficit through 2011 is $3.8 million, even assuming that revenues will rise 10 percent annually. City staff and council members are investigating whether AFN rates can be raised without losing customers and hurting revenues. Without increased AFN revenues, electricity customers will be subsidizing AFN. The current fiscal year budget is $94.53 million. The city is actually spending more in the coming fiscal year, but AFN was previously borrowing large sums from other city funds before the city took out the $15.5 million outside loan. Interfund loans must be counted twice, and thus the internal city borrowing in past years inflated the budget. If the city had continued to borrow internally, the coming budget would be about $104 million, Tuneberg estimated. Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 482-3456 x. 3018 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Free Musick Downloads Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks Heloc Calenders 2005 Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress tcg student loan consolidation Home Equity Loans teleconferencing W2 Forms cortisol weight loss Diamonds Futures Broker Bad Credit Loans Auto & Personal Loans Mesothelioma Free Home-Loan Referrals Sports Betting Website Design & Marketing Student Loans African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems Helzberg Diamonds Currancy Exchange Online Casinos Community Student Loans Bonus Casino Poker Games Homeschooling Auto Insurance Mortgage Calculator Mailing Lists Mystery Shopping Jobs Debt Consolidation Loans Payday Loans Click Here .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams