Council considers 2024 budget

The main concern on council members’ minds at the Monday, July 10, Janesville council meeting was the review of the 2024 budget. Janesville’s proposed budget for 2024 has increased by about 10% over 2023, with travel and conference expenses scheduled to increase from $450 to $2,000. Proposed salary increases for city employees amount to $10,000: City administrator Clinton Rogers told council members he had purposely used high estimates for insurance and other related expenses in anticipation that rates will rise before the budget is finalized in November. The budget also includes $2,000 to cover the cost of facilitating the upcoming 2024 presidential election. 

Shortly prior to the meeting, Mayor Andy Arnoldt and other city council members met with representatives from the EDA (Economic Development Administration) to discuss the idea of building a community center with an included daycare center. In that meeting, Arnoldt said he and his fellow council members were told that pursuing the project with government assistance could not continue without producing a concept. The council approved engaging the design and engineering company ISG of Mankato to perform conceptual work for the community center building. Up to $15,000 for ISG’s fees will come from $60,000 the city has remaining in American Rescue Plan funds. Arnoldt argued in favor of the $15,000 expenditure, saying that if the council doesn’t invest in the concept, the long-discussed idea of building the center will be “dead in the water.” He added that once this conceptual work is done, the city could apply for government grants to finance the community center’s construction. The council also voted to spend $1,300 from the American Rescue Plan to pay for traffic control during a three-week construction project on Teal Street. 

The utilities committee reported that they had received applicants for a new electrical lineman position and have started to look at next year’s water budget. 

Pete Madel, administrator at the city-owned care facility Whispering Creek, reported enthusiastically that the nursing home's annual family picnic and the Hay Daze turtle races and kiddie carnival were able to take place recently for the first time since 2019. Madel announced that Whispering Creek will receive $380,000 from the state’s recent $300 million nursing home aid package. Whispering Creek is also planning to apply for a state grant to give “all of the staff that stuck with us through Covid a one-time bonus” of $2,000 to $3,000. While Whispering Creek managed to break even financially this past year, Madel said that the nursing home could have an even “healthier” budget if it receives a $600,000 employee retention credit that it applied for.  

Jacob Lehrke, grounds superintendent at the city-owned Prairie Ridge Golf Course, told the council that the Janesville Golf Association recently helped the course buy 30 tons of sand for its bunkers, a purchase that isn’t made often. He was also pleased to say that the golf course has been “consistently busy all season long,” despite the heat waves and drought. 

Also speaking July 10 was Shane Zahrt, a representative from the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC), a lobbying organization which advocates for more than 100 member communities at the state capital. Monday’s visit was to recap the recent legislative session and how it would affect Janesville and other cities in the CGMC. 

The main topic at hand was the State Legislature’s approval of $20 million in street funding to be distributed among all Minnesota cities with a population of fewer than 5,000 residents. According to Zahrt, cities of that size typically “never got any dedicated funding” in the past, although towns located near the Twin Cities typically receive roughly 80% of funds distributed to municipalities. While Zahrt declared this funding to be a “big victory,” he said that the $20 million will be divided at least 705 ways. With continued lobbying, Zahrt claimed even more funding could be possible in the future. Zahrt said he’s waiting on word from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) as to how and when those funds will be distributed, but “it should be great news.”