Politics & Government
5 Budget Ideas Before Yorkville City Council
These are some of the policy issues Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson asked aldermen to consider during their ongoing budget discussions.
Can you imagine zip-lining across the Fox River? Should senior citizens pay only $1 every two months for garbage pick-up?
These are some of the topics that likely will surface as aldermen continue discussing for the fiscal year starting May 1. Aldermen expect to vote on the budget at their April 26 meeting, which is before any new city leaders elected April 5 will be seated.
Aldermen had little discussion on the budget at their March 8 meeting, but here are some of the policy ideas City Administrator Bart Olson tossed out in his Feb. 18 memo to City Council members. Olson was seeking feedback and direction from the City Council before pursuing any of the ideas.
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• Reduce senior garbage subsidy: The city spends about $120,000 a year covering senior garbage pickup because seniors only pay $1 per two-month billing cycle for garbage pick-up, Olson wrote in the memo. In the past, city leaders have discussed offering subsidies for only seniors with financial hardships. His memo did not indicate what criteria would be considered for financial hardship or what portion of the local senior population would likely have that status.
• Add local business registration: The city could generate $7,500 to $15,000 by requiring local businesses to register with the city, Olson said. Those figures were estimated based on the city charging $10 or $20 for the registration and the city having less than $750 local businesses).
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• Lease city space: Lease the southern 500 square feet of the Riverfront building, which had housed a preschool. The preschool is being moved from that space to 201 W. Hydraulic St., so Olson estimated the city could get about $400 a month renting that space.
• Partner with a company to operate a zip-line across the Fox River: Olson indicated that approval likely would be needed from private land owners and the state to build the footprint for the zip-line and it would have no immediate effect on the city’s budget.
• Allow digital billboards. Digital billboards could bring in $30,000 or more annually, Olson wrote in the memo. If the city decided to allow digital billboards, the city could collect permit fees for all digital signs, as well as lease fees for signs located on city property. He said billboard company representatives had expressed interest in a few locations.
To read Olson's entire memo, go to this website and click on "Budget narrative memo." The policy ideas start on page 16.