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Budget time is a very critical time of the year for Dayton and its City Council. Arriving at a balanced budget by December 31st each year is required by law and is the most important thing a city government must do.
Department heads are asked to begin working on their budget for the upcoming year in late spring and present their information to the City Clerk in late summer. This enables each department head enough time to see what he will accomplish with the current year's funding and what may have to be postponed until next year. Postponements can be the result of many varying factors - revenues coming in under projection, emergencies, or escalating costs exceeding current funding.
After the City Clerk gets input from all department heads, she then looks at the revenue forecast, which comes out in early fall and which controls areas such as cost of living raises, insurance premiums and fuel increases. These are expenses which the City has no control over. The Clerk compares the current budget and expenditures versus the projected budget to ensure the necessary dollars will be in place. The Mayor and the City Finance Committee, together with the City Clerk, look at priorities. A preliminary budget is then submitted to the entire City Council in late October, after which two public hearings are held. The dates for this year's public hearings on the Proposed 2009 Dayton City Budget will be November 24 and December 1 at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.
Although the City Council prepares this budget taking into consideration the Council's established priorities of a strong reserve, better infrastructure (streets, etc.), parks and recreation, they are also mindful that the budget
needs to reflect the citizens' desires and priorities. These public hearings are your opportunity to participate and let your voice be heard.
If you would like a copy of the proposed budget, please stop by City Hall and request one. It is available to everyone.
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By Charlie Button
Columbia County Health System
We are living in an age where the delivery of healthcare is being challenged and the system that has worked for many years may not be the right system in the future. There are two ways that health communities like Columbia County Health System can view the national crisis. We could take the passive approach and hope for the best or we can take a proactive approach and change with the times. I, for one, am more interested in taking the proactive approach and positioning ourselves to provide high quality healthcare for generations to come.
As a whole, rural healthcare in America is struggling. In a time when the demand for services is increasing dramatically, with baby boomers getting older, we are facing unprecedented labor shortages of primary care physicians, nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists and other critical care givers. Reimbursement from federal and state government and private payers is being stressed to the point that further cuts are almost guaranteed. Accessing capital to build new buildings, is difficult which has led to old and outdated facilities. The price tag continues to climb to maintain and upgrade computer and patient care technology to be able to effectively communicate referral patient information with larger health care facilities.
I am still very optimistic about the future of rural healthcare. I strongly believe that Rural America has some very distinct advantages over urban areas when it comes to the delivery of healthcare. Here are just a few examples:
- Healthcare is a people business and there is no better place to be cared for than in a friendly, safe, rural environment like Dayton and Waitsburg.
- We are not seeing some of the same labor shortages that other facilities are experiencing because your care givers choose to be here and are proud to serve the people of their communities.
- We are not experiencing outdated facilities because we continue to have very generous support from the citizens of our communities.
- There has been financial difficulty in the past but we are taking steps to improve our financial health. Our commitment to you is to operate the health system as efficiently as possible and provide services that can be justified in the size of our communities.
I choose to be in rural healthcare because I want to make a positive difference. We have 115 employees and over 50 volunteers at Columbia County Health System that want to make a positive difference as well. We appreciate your support.
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By Mayor Markeeta Little Wolf
City of Waitsburg
With work finally finished on the Main Street beautification project, the contractors have gone and the City is quietly settling in for Autumn. In spite of delays, Bruce Emory of Allstar Inc. and his crew created a revitalized Main Street we can be proud of for years to come.
To recap other improvements made:
- Granite Northwest constructed a new sidewalk down the west side Preston Avenue.
- Wilber Fletcher's crew painted the water tower on the hill at the north end of town, beautifully adding Waitsburg's logo to it.
- Bethany Moser of BMG Data Service revamped the City's web site.
There are three web site sections now: Government, Community and Tourism. This new look will be a great promoter for tourists and others looking to visit our community and bring business to our local establishments. It is also a great tool for the citizens of Waitsburg, making interaction with local government more user friendly. You can visit us at www.cityofwatisburg.com.
Finally, and after rejecting a seemingly accepted wisdom that in-stream work was prohibited, the City of Waitsburg pursued the permit process with Fish and Wildlife and the Corps of Engineers to do work in and around the Coppei Bridge on highway 12. The City began processing permit applications in April of 2008. After numerous follow-up letters, phone calls by the City and its engineers, with help from the Governor, Fish and Wildlife and the Corp approved their respective permits. During the week of October 13, the City had a track-hoe, run by Clyde Burdine, at work on that excavation project.
Thanks to the generosity of Ed Lawrence, Main Street has new trees. The trees were planted October 17. Volunteers on this project included Jim German, Claire Johnson, Bart Baxter, councilmember Leroy Cunningham and me. I had estimated that with the help of one crew member it would take us most of the day to do that job. But Dan Katsel, our Public Works Director, in his long experience of getting the work done, put the whole city crew to work helping the volunteers to settle the trees into the ground.
Mr. Katsel approached that task with military-like precision. We started at 8 a.m. and by 10 a.m. the trees were in their new homes. It was a pleasure to work along side crew members Jim Lynch, Jeff Hofer, Eugene Sutton and Travis Newman.
The City crew is hard working, efficient and cheerful. They are a big asset to our community. So next time you see one of them down in a ditch, driving the street sweeper or any of the many jobs they do in a day, I encourage you to shout out "job well done". (Remember, the crew does those after hours "dirty little jobs" too that come up from time to time.)
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By Tanya Patton
Columbia County Rural Library District
Three years ago, the voters in the unincorporated area of Columbia County stepped up and approved the creation of the Columbia County Rural Library District to help improve library service to the citizens of Columbia County. Since then, a five-member volunteer Board of Trustees, appointed by the county commissioners, has worked tirelessly (and often late into the night) to meet the goals identified during the campaign. The hiring of a professional director in August 2007, who has over 20 years of library experience and a Master's of Library Science degree, propelled the District into 21st-century library service while still preserving our library's small town intimacy.
The CCRLD assumed management of the Dayton Memorial Library on January 1, 2008. The City of Dayton pays the District to provide library service to residents of the city of Dayton and the District uses the resources of the city library to provide service to the rural county.
The only goal of the campaign which has not been met is the annexation of the city of Dayton to the Library District. The city council asked that the District create a "track record" of success before the council would agree to pursue annexation with building transfer. We've made excellent progress towards that goal through the leadership of our director, Janet Lyon and the dedication and hardwork of our fabulous staff.
Library hours have doubled. The book budget quadrupled. A comprehensive budget was written, approved and responsibly executed. Educational, cultural and just plain FUN programs have been planned and presented for toddlers, preschoolers, homeschoolers, public school children K through 12th grade, adults, families and seniors! A website was created to provide online access to the card catalog, helpful databases, including inter-library loan, a schedule of events, new book lists, Board meeting minutes (my favorite) and a large number of helpful websites sorted by age appropriateness. The Delany portion of the building is finally open and available to the community free of charge, just as the Delanys wanted. I could go on and on but my column space is limited!
Watch for information about annexation in the future, and, in the meantime, take advantage of the resources available through the library. We're working hard to EXCEED your expectations!
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