Dalton Gardens considers 2024 budget

The Dalton Gardens City Council is considering a $1.2 million budget for fiscal year 2024, on par with the 2023 budget.

The proposed budget, which council members reviewed last week at a workshop, includes taking the maximum allowable 3% increase in property taxes. The city has proposed $526,000 for streets; $198,000 for personnel; $133,000 for law enforcement; and $33,000 for parks.

The public will have the opportunity to weigh in at the final budget hearing, which is set for Aug. 17 at 5 p.m.

Included in the current budget is about $153,000 earmarked for road improvements. The funds will be taken from the city’s reserve, which contains approximately $3 million.

“We’ve got a lot of old roads in Dalton Gardens that need to have additional chip sealing,” said council president Tyler Dreschel.

It won’t be necessary to cut costs elsewhere in order to budget for the road work because the city already has the funds. Dreschel said these types of emergency or one-time costs are exactly what the reserves are best used for.

“It’s completely justified in having to take that money out of reserves,” he said.

After conferring with city staff, Dreschel said the council determined it would be more cost effective to reseal more roads at once in the coming year, rather than fewer roads at a time over a longer period.

“We don’t know what it’s going to look like when it comes to petroleum-based products in the next couple of years,” Dreschel said. “Prices have been increasing. We can get more out of our money if we do more roads rather than less.”

The city council also reportedly expects to spend American Rescue Plan Act funds for capital projects, including replacing the 30-year-old roof atop Dalton Gardens City Hall. Dreschel said the city will also take that opportunity to upgrade the roof’s insulation in order to save on heating and cooling costs.

“The last thing we want to do as a council is burden future councils with poor decisions we’ve made,” Dreschel said. “If we’ve got that money, we’ve got to utilize it and leave it better than we found it.”

Dalton Gardens is a city of almost 2,600 people that includes the area from Prairie Avenue south to Dalton Avenue and from Government Way to 17th Street.