City utility charges rising by 2 percent
September 16, 2011 at 1:44 am in The Jamestown Sun
The Jamestown City Council wrapped up most of its 2012 budget during a special meeting Thursday. The budget increases costs of city-provided utilities and provides a pay raise for city employees while building the city’s financial reserves. Continue Reading
Officials had pledged to balance a budget at the same tax level as last year during a preliminary meeting last week………….The move to increase the fees passed unanimously.
————————————-
There’s no need to raise taxes when you can just increase fees. It doesn’t matter if it’s a called a tax or a fee, we end up paying more in the end.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
21 
4
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
6 
26
How many dollars are in the utility fund now? Are we at 25% of the utility funds gross revenue now? Mayor, please break down the utility charges as to how many of the cities employees’s and their payroll expense is charged off to the utilities.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
City Council first eliminated the city electrical inspector position and tried to justify it by saying a state electrical inspector can cover Jamestown’s electrical inspections. Now , due a retirement, the city building inspector’s job is being eliminated. The City council has now put the residents of Jamestown into a precarious postition to rely on contractors to self-govern themselves to the building codes. Other staff within the department have been fighting the flood issue and will continue to do that in the foreseeable future. They will not have the time to add another job and perform it effectively. If you are planning any type of building project after November, be wary of a contractor saying “I know what building codes to follow”. Unless they are a member of the North Dakota Building Officals Association and attend the training meetings that this organization sponsors, they do not know the building code that applies in North Dakota. Has the city looked into any ramifications of additional liability insurance by the residents for their homes because of a lack of an inspector? Maybe Valley City has it right with the petition of eliminating the City administrator job. The city can get along without that position, the city can not get along without a building inspector. Everyone should be calling City Hall (252 – 5900) to voice their concern on this major change. Ths is simply a step in the wrong direction.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
28 
10
There is so little new building or remodeling going on in Jamestown that it appears even the Council realizes they can’t justify paying someone to do that job.
Like or Dislike:
11 
6
Not true, Fred.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
13 
25
My neighbor’s son is an electrician and I hired him to do my garage. When I called him in July, he said he would be impressed if the guy ever did show up. I’m still waiting for him to come – since April!
The state inspector clearly isn’t hitting all the job sites up. Katie, what are you going to do to fix this? This qualifies as inefficient and I don’t see a computer doing any extra work here. I’d like an answer.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
21 
2
You still can not ignore the building codes that are in force to provide safe housing in Jamestown.
Eliminating this position or shuffling the responsibilities is a bad thing for Jamestown. The City Council is just looking at the bottom line of the budget. Like I said before, maybe cutting the city administrator position will be a better way to help balance the budget. I don’t see Jeff Fuchs going out and checking on the builders if they have pulled permits for their jobs.
Like or Dislike:
18 
11
Mayor Katie,
I did not say the building inspector position was eliminated, I said due to a retirement…. The same thing happened when the electrical inspector retired.
One thing Jamestown does not need as this point of time to to start “downsizing” the necessary positions to keep Jamestown growing safely. If this is City Council’s reasoning, I hope there will not be any retirement of law enforcement in the near future.
Don’t evaluate a position based on balancing a budget, evaluate the positions based on need. We need a building and electrical inspector on staff for the city.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
20 
4
The thing is, Jamestown’s budget isn’t growing because the population isn’t growing. Something had to be cut, and they obviously found it.
Like or Dislike:
12 
9
I see we can’t comment on the Legislative redistricting, so I’ll put it here.
Notice, Fargo and Bismarck are each gaining a district, but Jamestown, even with all the “growth” the mayor talks about isn’t gaining anything.
We’re still wondering where all that “growth” is?
Like or Dislike:
11 
8
Mayor Katie, I have noticed that most of your comments end up getting hidden due to low comment rating. Do you think people are trying to tell you something?
Like or Dislike:
8 
8
See my questions to Mayor Katie above. Were we better off as a city when we did not have a city administrator? Having a city administrator has cut the power of the mayor and the council as they do not get enough verbal and writen information as to what is happening in the various departments.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
and now today, after we were told they were not going to increase the mill levy, there is a public notice of increasing the city of Jamestown’s mill levy on page A6 of the Jamestown Sun. Thanks Mayor Anderson, keep up the good work.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0