Bob Hall talks sewers, water and budgets

An issue that has been left over from Bob Hall’s first term as Charlestown’s mayor is running sewer lines to the Highview and Lakeview subdivisions so the homes could connect to the city’s sewer system, the mayor said in a recent interview.

Requirements for capital services provides that they shall be implemented within three years of an area being annexed, which was the main purpose for the Highview/Lakeview residents to seek annexation seven years ago.

Fortunately for Hall, who is in the middle of his second term as mayor, being a day late and a dollar short on implementing the capital services for those residents has turned out to be advantageous. Hall was able to secure American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to pay for the installation of the sewer lines, lowering the cost for the Highview/Lakeview homeowners to a one-time tap-in fee of $1,600, plus their regular water bill.

However, as residents pay the city the tap-in fees, the city will have to turn around and pay KBJ LLC — a local developer — $224,000 because of a contractual obligation for diverting the wastewater to a station in KBJ’s Danbury Oaks subdivision.

“It’s been a political football so to speak,” Hall said, referring to the tossing of plans, blame and funding scenarios between his administrations and the administration of former Charlestown Mayor Mike Hall.

“This is a time to feel good it’s over,” Hall said.

Although the sewer issues at Highview and Lakeview are not totally resolved, they are moving closer to completion.

“That work is in progress,” said Scott McKechnie, city councilman.

When the Highview/Lakeview project has been completed, Councilman Mark Goodlett said he hopes to see another change for Charlestown residents related to their water service.

“Once that has been started and is actually put to bed, I’m hoping to revisit our sewer rates and get those lowered,” he said.

While one Charlestown water problem is close to being resolved, another is lingering.

The city is seeking money from the State Revolving Fund to pay for three new water wells with possible construction in Charlestown State Park near Longview Beach, including a new water filtration plant that was originally planned when Hall took office in 2008.

“It’s been set back a little on the burner to work on some of the other major projects like the one [Highview/Lakeview] sewer issue,” McKechnie said. “And now we’re going to tackle the thing with the water and the water treatment plant. We want to bring that back up again.”

Although it is agreed that water issues need to be addressed, Goodlett said the city made a mistake when it lost out on $1 million in grant money for water improvements

“Unfortunately the grant money is not there and we’re going to have to come up with that $1 million,” he said. “If we had the million that we let go, then we’d be on our way to cleaner water.”

Budget talk

Paying for improvements, let alone regular services, have become an issue for local, county and even the state government, but not for Charlestown, according to Hall.

“I want people to understand we are operating within our budget,” he said in a previous report. “We have realigned our priorities to give more back to the community for youth and families. We’re getting more bang for our dollar.”

Getting more with less is essential as the city’s budget continues to shrink, partially at the behest of choosing not to seek the maximum levy.

In his first year, Hall was operating on the budget outlined by the previous administration.

The city’s general tax levy in 2008 was just short of $2 million.

Charlestown reduced its budget by 21 percent from the 2008 budget, but according to Clerk-Treasurer Donna Coomer — in Charlestown’s November newsletter — the city is still able to provide more activities and enhanced services to its residents.

While the city is operating on a substantially smaller budget, it is not entirely by choice.

In 2009, the city reduced its rate on the annual tax levy and requested $1,661,855 for its annual budget — down from 2008’s $1,925,949 — but the Department of Local Government Finance approved a budget of only $1,406,536.

Charlestown again submitted a budget in 2010 that was lower than the amount submitted for the previous year, but the total for 2010 is higher than the approved amount from 2009.

The submitted budget for 2010 is $1,515,846, about $150,000 lower than the 2009 submitted request, but it is $109,000 higher than the $1.41 million amount approved.

“We’re not spending more money,” Hall said in a previous report. “We’re operating in a budget $409,000 less than the one the previous year. I believe that we are getting a lot more done for a lot less money. In two years, when I say we’ve cut taxes and it’s something that we ought to be proud of, we have.

“That means the taxpayers will save $410,103 in actual less taxes being collected by the city of Charlestown.”

Keeping the tax rate under control has also been a priority for the council.

“The priorities [are] still maintaining our operating costs without major increases in our budget and our tax rate,” Goodlett said.

Despite the debacle that has fallen on Clark County for underfunding its levy, Charlestown is confident its operations will not be harmed, nor will it be forced to cut city workers.

“We started making cuts Jan. 1, 2008,” Hall said. “What most people are experiencing this year, we did voluntarily last year. We feel like we’re in real good shape that we’ve been able to make the cuts necessary and adjust the priorities.

“It doesn’t affect us from a standpoint that it has a compounding effect. Our challenge is not the tax levy, the challenge is the revenue side.”

The city is seeking to recoup some of the money it lost by underfunding its tax levy by asking for $109,000 back on the new levy; the city could ask for up to half of the difference in the 2008 budget and the 2009 budget request, which is $259,706.

The results of the budget request should be known this month.

The results of Hall’s administration as a whole will not be known until his term ends in 2012.

However, the mayor has already said he plans to run for Charlestown mayor again in the next election. That primary is in May 2011.

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Charlestown mayor is in the middle of his second term

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