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NORWAY -- The Norway City Council will give final consideration June 17 on its proposed 2019-20 budget that does not increase tax or utility rates.
It sets general fund spending for the 2019-20 fiscal year at $2.96 million, about $146,245 more than the current $2.81 million.
General fund revenues for 2019-20 are anticipated to be about $2.97 million, which is $123,847 -- or 4.3% -- more than in the current budget and almost $12,000 more than expenditures.
The proposed tax levy would be 16.3942 mills, or $16.39 per $1,000 of taxable property value, unchanged from the current tax rate. It would generate an estimated $819,938 in revenue. The city's total taxable property value for 2019 is $56,177,397, up about 1.2% from the previous year.
In order to fund road construction and maintenance, the city will have to move money from the general fund to the major and local street funds to pool with money received through revenue sharing programs such as Act 51, a Michigan Department of Transportation program that distributes transportation funds.
Norway has about 37 miles of road, with roughly 25 miles classified as local and 12 miles considered major streets, said Kevin Trevillian, principal of civil engineering and surveying operations with Coleman Engineering in Iron Mountain.
It costs the city about $16,000 per mile to plow and maintain the roads, Trevillian told the city council Monday, compared with an average income per mile is a little more than $17,500.
With only about $1,557 left over for capital road projects, the difference "might as well be zero," Trevillian said.
For the major streets, Trevillian said, the city can expect to receive $341,000 from Act 51, but nearly $280,000 will go towards maintenance expenses, leaving the remainder for new road projects. Local streets will have less money to use, with $26,500 remaining after maintenance costs.
"Act 51 money does not leave you capital improvement money," Trevillian said.
Mark Bubloni, a Norway resident, asked at the public hearing on the budget Monday evening if money from the Downtown Development Authority fund would be used for road maintenance. City Manager Ray Anderson said it would not.
Steve Tinti, board member for the DDA, said the organization had a defined district and was limited to projects within their boundaries and the city plan.
In other business, the board:
-- Approved a special event application from the St. Mary and St. Barbara Catholic churches for a Eucharistic procession at 11 a.m. June 23. The procession will walk 1/2 mile through the neighborhood, beginning and ending at St. Mary Catholic Church in Norway.
-- Accepted a bid from Great Lakes TV Seal, Inc. in Green Bay, Wis., to inspect and clean sewer and drain lines for the stormwater, asset management, wastewater project, at a cost not to exceed $148,400.25.
-- Passed a resolution approving the city's annual practice of sending wastewater sludge to Wisconsin farmers to be used as fertilizer.
-- Authorized Waterworks Services of Wausau, Wis., to conduct a leak detection study on the Norway water system, at a cost not to exceed $4,000.
-- Approved Dixon Engineering and Inspection Services, a regional service with an office in Greenfield, Wis., to inspect and clean two water storage tanks, at a cost not to exceed $6,900.
-- Purchased a work management software system from Mpower Innovations of Iron Mountain for $9,700. The price includes the software purchase, deployment and a first year of maintenance.
-- Also purchased for $4,300 Mpower's geographic information system, mapping technology that will be hosted through Coleman Engineering servers.
-- Authorized a $84,353.63 change order request by Slovenia-based Litostroj Hydro, Inc. for Unit 1 turbine modifications in the Sturgeon Falls Hydro Runner Replacement Project. Among other things, the change order covers the cost of precise laser measurements, dowel pin installation and welding cracked turbine blades.
Brian Christensen can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 29, or bchristensen@ironmountaindailynews.com.