Ponderay OKs $1.9M budget
— Photo by MARY MALONE Ponderay City Council members voted to adopt $1.9 million budget during Aug. 15 meeting.
PONDERAY — The "little city with a big future" also has a little budget compared to cities like Sandpoint.
Ponderay City Council members voted to adopt a $1.9 million budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year during the Aug. 15 council meeting. City Clerk Su Warren said the budget is about $500,000 less than the previous year.
"There is just not a lot of new stuff this year," Warren said. "We cut everything way back so that we can have the money for the bridge."
The replacement of the Sand Creek bridge on Schweitzer Cutoff Road will be the "big project" of the year, Warren said, adding it will cost Ponderay at least $255,000. The new bridge is a shared project between Sandpoint and Ponderay since it borders both cities. The need for a new bridge is due to decay, and weight restrictions on the old bridge are limiting the truck traffic along that route. Warren said the hope is that construction on the bridge will get started in the spring.
During the Aug. 15 meeting, the council also voted to approve the use of about $930 in foregone funds. Foregone funds are rolled over from property taxes in the previous year. This is the first year the state has required city councils to hold a public hearing with a resolution in order to use forgone funds. Warren said the budget will not effect taxpayers. The city always gets 3 percent of property taxes, she said, and any unused money from that 3 percent can go into the foregone fund.
The majority of the budget is basic expenses, such as wages and benefits for each department including general administration, law enforcement, the planning department and the streets department.
The only other improvements planned at this time are at McNearney Park. Warren said a new sprinkler system will be installed soon, and there is "talk" about a swing for people in wheelchairs. Warren said the parks commission is working on a grant for the swing, which would be wheelchair accessible for children and adults.
"We know that it is kind of hard for handicapped people at the park," Warren said. There is a lot of dirt and rocks — it's not all pavement like a lot of the city streets are. We are hoping to make it so handicapped people can use it, too."