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Sizemore initiative delays city projects By WENDY SIPOREN TALENT � Concerns about Bill Sizemore�s latest municipal belt-tightening initiative will put some city spending on hold until after the November election. City Administrator Kelly Madding says she will not spend fees the city has collected this year to repair Talent streets and storm drains until she is sure the city won�t have to refund them. The funds are part of a proposed $9.55 million fiscal year 2000-2001 budget. The City Council will consider adopting the budget at its next regular meeting at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 7, at city hall, 204 E. Main St. Talent adopted two new utility fees this year to pay for maintenance of its transportation system and storm drains. Residents pay a total of $4.84 monthly. The initiative proposed by limited-government advocate Sizemore would require voter approval of fees and tax increases of more than 3 percent. It would affect fees approved since Dec. 6, 1998. Under Sizemore�s initiative, Talent would have to refund the $131,000 budgeted for street maintenance or go to Talent voters to approve the fees. "We aren�t expending the funds that we very much need because ... Talent just doesn�t have $80,000 lying around (to refund) if we went out and spent the money on potholes and storm drains," said Madding. Besides these concerns, few changes are represented in the budget proposal. The combined city and fire district No. 5 tax rate remains unchanged at $6.43 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The total budget is down 15 percent from 1999-2000�s total of $11.17 million, mostly due to a $1.44 million decrease in construction projects. Because of project delays, the city spent just a fraction of the $8 million it had budgeted for a water-intertie project this year. The proposed budget includes $6.2 million for intertie work set to begin late this year. Departmental operating costs of $2.1 million are up .5 percent from this fiscal year. The city will employ one-half fewer workers next year due to the retirement of Police Chief C.W. Smith, whose position is being covered by interim chief Elmer Kammel working half-time. Madding says she will postpone seeking a replacement for Smith to save money and maintain two officers funded through a federal grant that expires next year. The city will begin the next fiscal year with an estimated $140,000 in the general fund, about half of its goal of three months of operating expenses. Last year�s beginning fund balance was $120,000, up from 1996 when the city began the year $50,000 in the red. "The city has not yet recovered,�� said Madding, referring to the budgeting mistakes of former city administrator Tony Paxton. "It will be some years." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA