The future’s looking a little brighter for Highland Park’s oldest building.
Highland Park City Council members agreed at a recent meeting to pay $40,000 toward the repair of the dilapidated and historic Stupey Cabin, estimated to have been built in 1847.
That decision brought resolution to one of few lingering questions about the $86.3 million proposed city budget for 2015. Council members held the public hearing on the spending plan Monday night; they’ll vote on it Dec. 1.
The proposed city budget represents no city tax levy increase, officials said. When combined with the library tax levy, there’s projected to be a $21 tax increase on a $500,000 home.
As recently as Monday night, the funding request from the Highland Park Historical Society to fix up the Stupey Cabin was not part of the plan. But the majority of the council said they supported the renovation, emphasizing the educational benefit in connecting Highland Park’s youth with its past.
“I’m fully supportive of this and believe, especially with the educational component, that future generations need the same access to the Stupey Cabin,” said council member Michelle Holleman.
Mayor Nancy Rotering, married to Rob Rotering, executive director of the Highland Park Historical Society, recused herself from the decision, as did council member Alyssa Knobel, an ex officio board member with the historical society.
The historical society has pegged the total cost to repair the cabin at about $62,000, Rob Rotering said, and has raised about $8,000 toward the remainder.
Beyond the Stupey Cabin, the proposed Highland Park budget includes putting $17 million toward roads, sewers and other capital projects, including a $3.7 million water meter replacement project, said City Manager Ghida Neukirch. Those expenditures reflect the City Council’s desire to improve infrastructure, she said.
The proposed budget is also projected to fund the city’s lowest staffing level in at least 20 years, according to officials.
“The city has really made a number of improvements to better serve the public and reduce our operating costs,” Neukirch said.
One example of that would be the consolidation of the emergency dispatch services with other North Shore towns, Neukirch said, a partnership that has resulted in the city cutting eight dispatchers from its payroll.
The projected savings for that consolidation have fluctuated over the past year as the details have been hashed out. But Neukirch said the most recent projections show savings of $78,000 a year for the first five years, beginning in 2015, and then $120,000 over the next 10 years.
As part of the agreement with the other communities, the city also is making a $289,000 investment toward upgrading the dispatch center, according to the proposed budget.
Next year, Highland Park will have about 270 full-time equivalents on payroll, according to the budget.
To put that number in context, the city had about 320 FTEs in 2005 — a 15 percent decrease over a 10-year period.
In more recent years, the city has sought opportunities for shared services with other communities, Neukirch said.
“We are, right now, properly staffed,” Neukirch said. “But our commitment is for every vacancy we have, through retirement or attrition, we’re doing an analysis of that position to identify if there is a more efficient way, or a better way, to do this operation.”
The proposed 2015 budget includes a $1.8 million drawdown of general fund reserves, which includes about $400,000 in funding for post-employment benefits for city employees.
“The city has thought that it is prudent to take a conservative approach to fund this liability over time,” said Julie Logan, Highland Park’s new finance director.
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Highland Park has taken the same approach with its police and fire pension funds, Logan said. Next year’s budget recommends the same funding level as this year at $4.7 million.
The proposed budget also includes $325,000 for removing and replacing ash trees infected with emerald ash borer, the tiny green beetle that has plagued communities throughout the Midwest. That funding request, expected to be identical in 2016, is up from $170,000 in the current year’s budget.
And the city-owned Highland Park Country Club is projected to end the year with a $190,000 deficit to its budget. City employees have recommended a $100,000 capital investment for new equipment at the golf course in 2015. But officials have said another $1.1 million in improvements at the country club’s banquet facility are needed.