Budget retains funds for financial adviser
The budget meeting of the McCook City Council became somewhat heated during discussion on a request by City Manager John Bingham for a financial adviser Monday night.
Because of the funding that will be needed to purchase the Swearingen property, and the cost of city water improvements, Bingham is requesting the help of a financial advisor to work with the city to find the best price for a bond.
"A financial adviser represents the city's interest in these transactions, providing valuable supervision to the Bond Counsel and Underwriter, who, in the absence of a financial adviser are free to take their time and charge whatever the city will agree to pay.
"Other important services provided by a financial adviser are expert advice on all municipal financial matters and continuity," Bingham wrote in a request to the council earlier this year.
Bingham said he had been in contact with Jon Burmeister of Public Financial Management in Des Moines, Iowa, who would represent the city for $300 a month.
"I don't believe the city of McCook needs a financial advisor to the tune of $3,600 a year," said Councilman Phil Lyons. "It is unnecessary, unneeded and we need to do something else with that money."
Lyons also pointed out he doesn't believe a financial advisor from Iowa can appropriately represent a Nebraska community.
Bingham presented the council with a chart showing how much different communities in Nebraska had paid for bonds. Of seven communities, the city of Elkhorn paid .08 percent for a bond while the other communities paid from .11 percent to .45 percent.
The difference, said Bingham, was that the city of Elkhorn had hired someone to find a competitive bond.
The council voted three to two not to remove the proposed $3,600 expense in the budget with Councilmen Dick Trail and Lyons voting against the measure.
"I've got to trust that the city manager knows when he needs help with financial advice and we have to trust him to make those decisions," said Councilman Chris Overman.
Trail proposed that an $80,000 increase in revenues to the water reserve fund from an increase in water rates be removed from the budget.
"I don't see any reason for a water rate increase at this time. If we had something done it would be different but we don't have anything done," said Trail.
Mayor Linda Taylor told Trail she thought it would be best to begin raising revenues now, in order to pay for the upcoming cost of the McCook water solution.
"Sometimes we need to realize we're going to have expenses and make those increases in small increments," she said.
"The numbers we've seen indicate the cost of improvements are estimated to be at about $20 million. That's a $20-22 increase in every McCook household annually," said Chris Overman.
"If we're going to fix this thing, we need to do it gradually," he said.
The council voted four to one to keep the $80,000 increase in revenues from an increase in water rates in the budget. The council also voted against a motion by Lyons to return $15,000 to the McCook Library books and periodical fund and reduce the Council Contingency Fund by $15,000
The proposed budget showed a recommended amount of $20,000 compared to a requested amount of $35,000.
"The library exists for books," said Lyons.
Library director Patty Hall said the decrease would make a huge difference in the books that are normally bought, "But it won't make our library any less."
The motion failed with Steve Batty, Taylor and Overman voting against it.
A second motion by Lyons to reduce the city's grant writer program by $10,000 and increase the Library's funding also failed by the same vote.
Lyons also asked the Council to remove a $25,000 budget item to remove the standpipe at West Fifth and M Street and increase the Water Quality Solution Reserve by the same amount.
Overman suggested that amount should be absorbed by Heritage Senior Center in its expansion budget.
The Council voted four to one to remove the expense from the budget.
During its regular meeting, the council voted four to one to approve the budget with Trail voting against the measure.