December 29, 2008 Council Meeting

We had a short council meeting on Monday that had two issues on the agenda. The first issue was approval of end of year bills. The second issue was approval of the contract with the Humane Society for 2009. Buhl’s attorney wanted to clear up a few items in the contract with the Humane Society from the Dec 16 meeting. The Humane Society agreed to the changes, so we approved the contract for 2009.

One thing that I did talk to Buhl’s Clerk about was the Local Government Aid (LGA) that we received from the State of MN on December 26. Buhl’s total aid was not decreased in 2008 like some other cities were. We did not receive a decrease because we are considered a small city (under 1000 people), and the State did not reduce small city’s aid for 2008. Most likely, our aid for 2009 will be reduced.

How will we reduce our spending in 2009, based on the reduction of LGA we receive? It is hard to say at this point, because we don’t know what the reduced amount will be. We now receive $346,139 a year from the State in LGA. That amount will most likely decrease next year, and we will need to find some things to cut, or raise the local levy, or both.

A few people have made suggestions on possible ways to balance the City budget for 2009. The suggestions were…. Cut the law enforcement…..close the library……cut one employee from the City Crew…..cut the recreation department out. These were suggestions made to me (interesting that no one said “raise the local levy”). Let me know what your suggestions are on possible ways to balance the City budget for next year.