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Grants swell Shady Cove budget By MELISSA MARTIN SHADY COVE -- Residents might pay $1 more a month on their sewer bills beginning in July as the city prepares for a major overhaul of its aging waste water system. A public hearing about sewer rates will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall. The sewer rate is only a minor change in Shady Cove's $3.1 million proposed budget for 1999/2000. It's earned a stamp of approval from the budget committee and moves to the City Council for adoption next month. A budget hearing will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 10. The proposed budget is $1.2 million greater than last year's $1.9 million budget, mostly because of grants and loans the city hopes to receive to rehabilitate its sewer system. The city's 18-year-old sewer system looks like a 50- to 70-year old one, according to an engineer's report. Storm water leaks into the PVC pipes, overloading pump stations, says Jerry L'Estrange, city administrator. The city has applied for $3.6 million in federal and state grants and loans to replace lift station two, the weak link in the system. Work will include drilling beneath the Rogue River to place pipe under the road instead of across the bridge. The $1 monthly sewer increase is less than half of the $2.12 per month per family that it will cost the city to make loan payments to the Oregon Economic Development Department this year, says Mayor Tom Anderson. Shady Cove residents passed a 40-year bond to build the city's first sewer system in 1972, the year the city was incorporated. Property owners will pay 69 cents per $1,000 of assessed value this year for the sewer bond (down from $2.61 in 1973). Added to the 55 cents per $1,000 for the new police levy, Shady Cove's tax rate is $1.24, the lowest in Southern Oregon. Shady Cove's assessed value is $120 million, which will generate an estimated $120,700 in general fund revenue for Shady Cove this year. Besides sewer system repairs, the Shady Cove budget shows an $131,860 increase in the general fund, mostly due to the city hiring the first administrator in its history. Other changes include pay raises, restoring the police staffing level back to three officers and a police chief and setting aside $45,000 to relocate the police department, Anderson says. The city administrator's salary comes from three areas -- half from the public works budget, a portion from an increase in Pacific Power franchise fees and a portion from motel taxes. Motel tax revenues are estimated to be $17,000 more this year because of the 55-room Edgewater Inn that opened in March. Other budget changes include: Personal Services increased by $134,995, which includes two new positions, pay raises, medical insurance increases and a 50 percent jump in PERS retirement fund. A predicted $10,000 increase in city income from system development charges, fees that builders pay for streets, storm drains, sewer and parks. The street budget is down by $22,700, partly because of a grant that the city applied for but didn't receive last year. The budget includes money to pave Maple Drive, the next street on the city's project list. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA