Oil City Council members unanimously approved the city’s 2022 budget at their final meeting of the year on Thursday.
The spending plan is balanced and doesn’t include a tax increase.
“There are no increases to fees or taxes other than a small bump in water and recycling,” city manager Mark Schroyer said. “I can’t promise 2023, but we’re getting through 2022.”
Schroyer said the city’s audit showed the city was $160,000 in the black at the end of 2020, and $119,000 of that will be used to balance the 2022 budget.
The projected $119,000 to balance the budget is down from an earlier projection of $200,000, he said.
But when it comes to the city’s cost of insurance for the coming year, “the news overall is not good,” Schroyer said.
The automobile and general liability insurance packages have come in at a 20% increase, down from a 22% or 23% hike, Schroyer said.
The city’s workers compensation insurance saw a 9.5% increase, down from a projected 10% increase, Schroyer said.
Due to revisions to the city’s pension plan the cost of the city’s minimum municipal obligation has dropped, Schroyer said.
The property tax millage for 2022 breaks down to 8.50 mills for the general fund, 2.34 mills for the operation of the city’s parks, playgrounds and recreation areas, 0.98 mills for the library and 0.10 mills to pay interest and principal on indebtedness.
City funds are earmarked for utility/refuse services, general control/operations, parking, liquid fuels, capital reserve, community development, the city industrial park and the Oil City Arts Council.
In addition to the property tax, the budget will also rely on the $10 per capita tax, 1% earned income tax, 1% realty transfer tax, $52 local services tax, $5 residence tax and business license fees that range from $25 to $100.
Schroyer also noted in November there will be a 5% increase in water rates but no change to sewer rates. The water rate will increase 35 cents per cubic foot.
Garbage collection and recycling rates will also go up 75 cents a month, Schroyer said in November during the first reading of the budget. This is because the city’s garbage and recycling contract expires in the summer and the city has been told to expect a 20% increase in rates, he added at the time.
Demolition contracts
In other business Thursday, council approved revisions to two Community Development Block Grant contracts to pay the cost of demolishing six houses the city owns.
The bid was awarded to BKI at a cost of $85,396 for demolishing 157 Crawford St., 27 Plummer St., 37 Plummer St., 235 1/2 Bissell Ave., 138 Charlton St. and 28 Haylday Run Road.
Kelly Ryen, the city’s director of community and economic development, said the bids for demolition came in about twice as high as they had anticipated due to the increasing costs of demolition over the past year.
The revisions to the 2018 and 2020 CDBG contracts allow funds to be shuffled around to pay for the demolitions without going through the process of a public hearing, Ryen said.
“It is so nice to see the blighted houses coming down…it improved the whole neighborhood,” councilman Mike Walentosky said.
Fond farewells
City staffers and fellow council members also said farewell to councilmen Michael Poff and Isaiah Dunham, who attended their final meeting Thursday.
Poff and Dunham have both served eight years on council following their election victories in 2013 and 2017. They chose not to seek re-election this year.
Nick Moran and Dale Massie were elected in November to fill the two seats on council, and their terms will begin in January.
Poff and Dunham expressed thanks and appreciation for the time they have spent on council and noted that it was an interesting and sometimes fun experience.
“I have enjoyed serving with you both for the last eight years. I will miss you both,” councilman Ron Gustafson said.
Walentosky noted that the current council has been a “good group to work with.”
“When you leave a place better than when you found it, you’ve done your job. You both are leaving this city better than when you found it,” Schroyer said.
In another matter, Gustafson noted the good news that two projects in Oil City, 100 Seneca and the Lyric Theater, have received grant funding from the state.
“Thank you to anyone who had a hand in that, it is a lot of work,” Gustafson said.
He added that he was surprised by the amount of money for the theater.
“I think that is the right size theater for Oil City,” he said.
Gustafson and Mayor Bill Moon expressed the hope that both projects, when completed, will add to the revitalization of Oil City and help bring people in from out of town.
In a final matter, Trish Baker was appointed to another five-year term on the city’s Redevelopment Authority.
Council’s reorganization meeting that will include the swearing in of Massie and Moran will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4, in council chambers.
