Sandpoint OKs $20.4M budget

SANDPOINT — In one of its most efficient meetings of the year, the City Council mowed through a full agenda Wednesday night that included the city’s 2009/2010 preliminary budget.

The three-and-a-half hour meeting — a full five hours shorter than last month’s session — gave the council more than enough time to debate and eventually pass a $20,444,997 preliminary budget on a 4-2 vote. Council members Stephen Snedden, John Reuter, John O’Hara and Carrie Logan voted in favor of the budget, with council members Michael Boge and Helen Newton dissenting. The budget, which is $6,416,974 less than last year’s, will head back to the council for a public hearing next month before it becomes law.

With three budget workshops in the last month, the majority of the budget was in place before reaching the council, but that didn’t stop three members from offering up amendments to the item. Boge alone introduced 28 cuts, none of which passed. His amendments, including a $2,000 cut from the Sandpoint Police Department’s telephone budget, drew the ire of Reuter, who called Boge’s action “a political show rather than an attempt to be fiscally responsible.”

“Fortunately, many members of this body take their job seriously and don’t just play ‘cut this and cut that’ to get to the number,” Reuter said. “I think it’s irresponsible.”

In response, Boge said he was making an honest attempt to rein in items that, if left alone, could mean higher taxes for city residents.

“To answer your question, I came to the City Council meeting tonight to represent the people of the city of Sandpoint,” Boge said. “By that, it means I express my views on what I feel is best for my neighbors and residents.”

Reuter offered up two amendments of his own, adding $11,755 to the Urban Forestry budget and $60,000 for transportation infrastructure, both of which passed only after Mayor Gretchen Hellar broke a 3-3 tie. O’Hara and Snedden voted with Reuter to add the items, with Boge, Newton and Logan dissenting.

Among other items, the preliminary budget will cut funds from the mayor’s office, Finance Department, sewer collection, water distribution, Public Works Administration, Planning Department, Recreation Department and police protection.

A public hearing on the budget is set for August 11 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.