The first change that city council members are looking forward to is an adjustment in employee health benefits. Although these adjustments are not going to affect the general public, the council agrees that the changes are welcome. The changes only affect the health savings plan chosen by the employees and should actually save the city money on health coverage.
Another change is a $13,000 purchase allowance for a tractor that will be used at the arena and city park.
Also discussed during the budget meetings was the usage of the Riverton Senior Center. Although the center is located in Riverton, it is open for use for those interested in the Bluffdale area. There is a shuttle that picks up several residents and buses them to the center.
Riverton City has asked Bluffdale for help in covering the cost of the shuttle to and from the center. Mayor Derk Timothy told the council that he felt the cost should be a fair amount for both cities.
In the end, the council decided to pay Riverton about $19,000, close to the $20,000 Bluffdale was being asked to pay. The funds will be used for vehicle maintenance and the driver’s salary.
“Riverton has been good to us in the past,” Councilmember Alan Jackson said. “If nothing else, I want to support the mayor in his decision on the amount. Besides, it’s the right thing to do.”
Councilmember Noell Nelson expressed concern about paying that amount since the cost for the shuttle was originally listed on the budget as $12,000. This amount came from a rough estimate of the cost of running the shuttle. Nelson expressed an interest in getting an actual cost to run the vehicle, rather than just an estimate.
The council approved the $19,000 expenditure in a 3-1 vote. (Bruce Kartchner was absent from the meeting.).
The biggest addition to the budget will be an increase in the water rate. Bluffdale purchases water from the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District. Each year, the district imposes an increase on the city and this is passed on to the residents. This year the increase will be 6.1 percent.
Another item considered in budget deliberations was a new public address system for city council meetings. The new system will include wireless microphones and a mounted digital projector.
The whole system has been budgeted at around $9,000. This will cover the cost of new microphones, labor and mounting the new projector.
“This will eliminate the mess of cords in front of the table during council meetings,” Timothy said.
Policing costs were also discussed. With many of the surrounding cities moving to using the Unified Police Department, Bluffdale has stayed with Saratoga Spring Police Department. According to Cpl. Kevin Turner, this action has actually saved the city’s residents money as well as kept response time to a minimum.
When all is said and done, the city’s revenue will exceed expenditures by about $29,000. These extra monies will be allocated to the general fund for possible unexpected expenditures.
By Alisha Tondro for The South Valley
Published in July 2011 in Riverton, Utah
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