Austin’s portion of the property taxes won’t be going up this year – for the eighth consecutive year – but the Mayor and Austin City Council members might be set on a path for a substantial raise.

Tuesday, August 31, 1999

Austin’s portion of the property taxes won’t be going up this year – for the eighth consecutive year – but the Mayor and Austin City Council members might be set on a path for a substantial raise.

Council members and city administration met Monday evening to discuss the city’s proposed 2000 budget and tax levy, part of that discussion centered around the salaries of the city’s elected officials.

Set at the same level for the past 13 years – $6,000 for the mayor, $4,500 for the council member at-large and $4,000 for each council member – research showed that compensation for Austin’s elected city officials is far below those of similar communities Owatonna and Faribault. One of Monday’s proposals centered around bringing those salaries up to par with other cities and with the additional work done by elected officials. The increase – which would put the mayor at $9,000, council member at-large at $7,800 and council members at $6,600 – would not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2001, after the next election.

"Thirteen years ago those salaries might have been adequate, but now many of the council members and certainly the mayor are in City Hall on a daily basis," director of administrative services Tom Dankert said. "It (being an elected official) takes a lot of time. Money shouldn’t be a big issue, but it may help make someone decide to run for office that otherwise wouldn’t have."

No official action was taken Monday: the proposed property tax levy of $2,163,795 is set for a preliminary vote at next Tuesday’s council meeting; there will be a public hearing Nov. 29 on the budget and tax levy with a final council vote to come in December. After Sept. 15, individual department budgets may still be increased or decreased, but the proposed tax levy cannot be raised. By state law the levy is locked in at that level or lower.

Proposed city budgets that were discussed included the General Fund budget, the Library Fund budget, the Debt Service Funds budget and the Port Authority Fund Budget.

The biggest changes, Dankert said, were departmental staffing increases tentatively approved by the council at Monday’s workshop. However, the council only approved the lowest dollar increases, and denied requests for another full-time police officer and another full-time park maintenance employee.

The following positions were tentatively approved:

– An additional 20 hours per week of staff time at the Austin Public Library. Dankert said rather than hiring a new part-time staff member, someone already part-time at the library will go full-time. The increased man hours will be paid for – by trading book costs for staff costs – by the Walter Wienke estate money the library will receive yearly for the next 30 years at least.

– Community Service Officers (CSOs) would be increased to four: two year-round positions at 20 hours per week, plus two seasonal at 40 hours per week. Currently the CSOs are three and seasonal. The additional cost would be $10,000.

– An administrative assistant for the Park and Rec Department. Currently the city pays Manpower and Associates to provide someone. The difference in cost would be $7,700, but less time would have to be put into yearly retraining.

– A full-time assistant – now at 19 hours a week – for the JC Hormel nature center. The budget increase is estimated at $11,100 for that position.

The creation of an assistant fire chief position, to be promoted from within the department, was tabled until the Friday meeting of the Fire Safety committee.

Also new this year, was a Capital Improvements Revolving fund which is tentatively budgeted at $167,000. Included in that is $25,000 for sidewalk improvements, $115,000 for storm sewer improvements and $27,000 for antique street light installations which couldn’t be assessed.

If citizens have concerns or questions, Dankert asked that enquiries be directed to him at City Hall, phone 437-9959 or e-mail tdankert@austin-mn.com or to a person’s council member.