Mayor frames revenue committee goals
First session set Wednesday
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 10:22 AM PDT
Ontario — The first meeting of the Ontario Revenue Committee is set Wednesday and, already, the recently-crafted group faces a number of lingering fiscal issues.
The city’s top elected leader, however, said recently his aim for the funding task force remains the same.
“My goal is that they (the committee members) will present their findings to the council June 1,” Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick said.
Dominick said he suggested the committee — consisting of Ontario residents who are interested in finding new sources of funding for the city’s current budget issue — meet every two weeks.
“(The idea of a revenue committee) has been bounced around in council a number of different times,” he said. “I can’t tell you whose idea it was, so I’m going to give credit to the entire council.”
However, it was not until the City Council’s Feb. 11 meeting that the idea gained momentum.
“You as a City Council, and we as members of the City of Ontario, have got to get our acts together and come up with a source of revenue,” Ontario resident Bruce Hunter said at the Feb. 11 session. “The issue is not whether we need it or not. The issue is get with it guys, and let’s come up with a way to fund all of the problems.”
Dominick said the idea evolved after the city watched its budget decline and the police department requested new officers. However, there is nothing in the minutes that proves that a council member proposed the notion.
“I don’t really have anything in writing about who did what,” Ontario City Recorder Tori Barnett said. “It might have been something that was just discussed around and not put into writing.”
However, Dominick said it was a council decision.
“It was an ongoing discussion of need, but new issues got pushed to the forefront,” he said. “Since we have a contingency fund of almost a million dollars, and we just let the city run for awhile, now it’s come up again. What we need to do is have the discussions.”
As for the recommendations, Dominick said the council will look into any suggestions.
“If the revenue committee has more than one recommendation, they will all be taken seriously,” he said. “If they have one recommendation that everyone has agreed on, there is no logical reason not to go with it.” Dominick did not speculate on what the recommendations might be, reiterating the ideas would come from the community.
“There will be no restrictions on ideas,” he said.
One of the first items slated for the revenue committee to discuss is how much money it must find.
“A bunch of numbers were tossed around,” Dominick said of the budget committee’s meeting two weeks ago. “From $500,000 to up to $800,000.”
According to the budget, $500,000 would cover the $430,000 stemming from a one-time Qwest franchise fee litigation settlement — money that will not be in the general revenue fund next year. The $800,000 was listed as the deficit on the biennial budget.
However, Ontario Budget Committee member Bob Quinn said that number could go as high as $21⁄2 million to get Ontario’s roads from being more than chip-sealed. As for how the revenue committee would decide on a number, Dominick said that issue would be dealt with once the committee is underway.
“That will be part of the discussion. We do need to have a goal in mind,” he said.
As for the committee itself, Dominick said it has an entirely different purpose than the budget committee, which is not slated to meet for another six months.
“The purpose of the budget committee is to make sure the current funds we have are spent wisely and to make sure we have the appropriate amount in our contingency fund for emergencies,” he said. “The revenue committee is for adding new sources of revenue to enhance the city’s budget.”
Dominick said resting the revenue committee’s issues on the budget committee’s shoulders would be problematic because it would decrease the amount of citizen involvement.
“We want the community’s input, not just the committee’s input,” he said.
However, the City Council will not be ignoring the committee in the months before it presents ideas to the council.
“The council will be involved, listening in on the meeting,” Dominick said.
He also said that June 1 does not represent a concrete timeline. After the deadline date, the committee can request an extension to the council.
“It’s a short deadline so they can work hard on it,” he said.
The revenue committee will meet in City Council chambers at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
