Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Hailey adopts smaller tentative budget

Economic development will have to wait


By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

The Hailey City Council on Monday night adopted a tentative $10,009,977 budget for fiscal year 2009-10, a 13 percent drop in spending from last year. The council turned down some late requests to help fund countywide economic development.

In the last two years, the city has eliminated 10 full-time staff positions in several departments, including one police officer. It has retrained Building Department personnel to work in the Street Department and reduced staff once needed to handle high volumes of building applications and development inspections.

The Hailey Chamber of Commerce will receive 8 percent less funding than last year. City staff salaries are also frozen until things turn around.

Mayor Rick Davis expressed confidence in his staff for making ends meet in challenging economic times.

"We have an awesome staff," he said. "My biggest disappointment was that we couldn't give them any raises this year."

Both Sustain Blaine and the Fly Sun Valley Alliance made requests for funding Monday night, but not in time to get what they were looking for.

The city budgeted only $3,000 of a $15,000 request from Sustain Blaine for a "Go Blaine" economic development plan the group hopes to begin this fall.

The Fly Sun Valley Alliance was refused a request for $50,000, for what spokesman Maurice Charlot described as the city's share of a standby subsidy, a minimum revenue guarantee, to assure Horizon Air flights from the West Coast this winter.

"All of our budgeted items are necessities," Councilman Don Keirn said after the vote. "This is a bare bones budget."

A public hearing on the proposed city budget will take place Monday, Aug. 10, at 5:30 p.m. at Hailey City Hall.

In other Hailey news, a summit of south county fire-fighting agencies will meet Wednesday, Aug. 19, at the Old County courthouse to discuss possible consolidation of services.

Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com




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