Bettendorf budget talks begin tonight

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By Barb Ickes | Tuesday, January 30, 2007 12:09 AM CST | () comments

The Bettendorf City Council begins today the work of agreeing on and passing a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The current fiscal year budget is $68.9 million.

City Administrator Decker Ploehn said he cannot predict how close the current budget will be to the new fiscal year, saying the first talks on spending begin this evening.

One thing he is certain will change is the amount of money Bettendorf can expect to get from the Isle of Capri as its share of gaming revenues. In the current fiscal year, the city is getting $2.2 million, but, with casino profits down, Ploehn expects a considerable reduction.

“We have been relying on gambling,” he said Friday. “I don’t know the number, yet, but it will be reduced.”

The first order of business for aldermen today will be to look at the capital budget, which funds projects such as street repairs.

“They’ll look at the projects, decide whether they should be done and be ready to adopt a budget in February,” the city administrator said.

Also on the city’s decision-making agenda is staffing levels for the fire department. The city uses a combination of full-time and volunteer firefighters, and some aldermen have said Bettendorf is getting too big to rely so heavily on volunteers.

Ploehn has been collecting options for the council to consider, including the possibility of signing a contract with Davenport for fire service. Davenport officials have said they could provide coverage on all structure fires in Bettendorf for about $102,000 a year.

Bettendorf aldermen are to consider the Davenport proposal, along with the option of hiring more of their own full-time firefighters, using firefighting-trained city workers from other departments, maintaining the current staffing levels or looking to another neighboring city for help.

Other city priorities include a new master plan for the downtown, an economic development strategy and a possible increase in the solid-waste fee.

Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Bettendorf budget

planning

When: 4-8 p.m. today and

Tuesday

Where: City Hall, 1609 State St.