Letter to Gov Vilsack - MVM
December 12, 2003
VIA E-mail and
st
1 Class Mail
Tom Vilsack (Elisabeth.buck@iowa.gov)
Governor Tom Vilsack
Governor’s Office
State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319
Dear Governor Vilsack:
In response to your solicitation of comments, I am writing to express concerns
over discussion of the proposed cuts to the State budget. I am particularly
concerned about the discussion among legislative leaders who are threatening to
cut $120 - $160 million in property tax credits from local governments. As you
know, in FY 2003 the legislature passed and you signed a budget, which reduced
funding to local governments by nearly $60 million. This cut was devastating to
the City of Dubuque as it resulted in a reduction of $1,195,425 in revenue or 3.54
percent of the general fund operating expense. In an effort to address this
shortfall and to address other budget concerns, the City of Dubuque was forced
to consider the elimination of 18 full-time positions. These positions included
three fire equipment operator positions, two police officer positions, one civilian
staff support for the police department, one park ranger, one maintenance worker
for the Park Department, one fiscal coordinator for the Finance Department, one
building supervisor for Five Flags Civic Center, two engineering positions, one
maintenance worker for the Parking Division, one graphic artist, one police officer
for the Airport and three librarians. These positions would be additional cuts on
top of the 65 positions eliminated by the city since 1981, a reduction of 11
percent in workforce.
Realizing the significant impact the loss of 18 full-time positions would have on
our organization, the City Council worked to reduce expenses and increase fees
for services. As a result a total of five full-time positions were cut from the
organization. These cuts have not come with out a cost to the city and we have
felt a loss in the services that we are now able to provide our citizens. Should
the legislature choose to reduce our state funding by an additional $120 - $160
million, the impact would be devastating. The result would likely mean increased
fees for services and reduction of expenses through the elimination of staff. This
will continue to impact the level of service our citizens have come to expect.
The City of Dubuque has been fiscally responsible over the years. We have
avoided a property tax increase for the average homeowner for the last nine
years, with five of those years seeing a property tax decrease. The average
homeowner in Dubuque has seen a tax decrease of seven percent over the last
nine years on the City portion of their property taxes, excluding the state
reduction in the Homestead Tax Credit. However, additional cuts from the state
will reverse our efforts over the past 10 years to be fiscally responsible. I
encourage you to consider the effects of last year’s cuts on Iowa communities
and not take similar action in this year’s state budget.
Sincerely,
Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
Cc: Mayor Terry Duggan
Dubuque City Council
Susan Judkins, Director of Governmental Affairs, Iowa League of Cities
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Pauline Joyce, Administrative Services Manager
Dawn Lang, Budget Officer