2-28-20 fdl public safety referendum

The Fond du Lac city council got its first look at a potential cost breakdown for a public safety referendum at their meeting this week.   The cost for six additional police officers, two squad cars and an additional ambulance with six firefighter/paramedics is $1.3 million.   However city manager Joe Moore told the council that by going to referendum the city would lose more than a million dollars from the state’s expenditure  restraint program.  Moore says  that  equates to a $2.2 million referendum that  would cost the owner  of a $125,000 home an additional $96 a year.   If the council were to dip into the fund balance the  tax impact would be about $56 a year.  “If we’re going to go forward with a referendum do we try to essentially have a break-even, which is the higher number, so we don’t feel the effects of the expenditure restraint loss?  Or the lower number where we are making up the difference with the fund balance?”   Moore says the concern is what impact using the fund balance would have on the city long term.  Council president Brian Kolstad said he supports the referendum, provided the city can lessen the impact to taxpayers.  The council will continue the discussion at their next meeting.