Officials: Jackson 2018 budget 'ambitious' but attainable

Jackson city officials called the 2018 budget ambitious but attainable at Monday’s regular Board of Aldermen meeting.

Speaking by phone Tuesday, Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs said the overall theme for the 2018 budget is continued development of infrastructure to support Jackson’s growth — not just utilities, but public safety as well.

Several projects are slated for 2018, including infrastructure upgrades to the electrical system.

One $3.2 million project would upgrade the electrical loop to the west substation, Hahs said, which will increase electrical capabilities on Jackson’s west side.

Another key project on the city’s east side will be a little over $1 million, Hahs said, to upgrade the electricity grid, including substations and lines.

A $350,000 project will add a traffic signal to East Main Street at the Oakhill Road intersection. Another $600,000 will go toward upgrading and maintaining streets as part of an annual maintenance program, Hahs said.

Another $2 million is allotted for projects to improve the wastewater system, Hahs said.

A new bathroom in the city park near the softball field will be about $200,000, Hahs said, and the new pedestrian footbridge over Hubble Creek accounts for another $70,000.

“Then we’ll start working on Brookside Park’s additional ballfields,” Hahs said. That work will include parking-lot work and grading.

Hahs said The city and Cape Girardeau County are collaborating on a new emergency-response dispatch center, also included in the 2018 budget.

Another key priority is the public-safety sales tax, which will be on the April ballot, Hahs said.

If that tax of one-half of 1 percent passes, “that would enable us to increase coverage of patrolmen in our police department, and add some training

resources to our fire department,” Hahs said.

Jackson will collaborate with Cape Girardeau County to build a new police station. The city will renovate the existing station, which houses police and fire departments, to become solely the fire station.

Hahs said city staff also will study the feasibility of a curbside recycling program. He said the study likely would be underway by summer.

Infrastructure work will continue on the city’s water lines as part of an $11.5 million bond issue approved by voters in August 2015.

In uptown Jackson this year, undersized water mains and lines were replaced with 6- and 8-inch mains and wider lines.

Work on the water system infrastructure will continue in 2018, Hahs said.

“I think the city of Jackson had a successful year,” Hahs said at Monday’s meeting. “We accomplished a lot, including the community survey, which we’ll be using as we go forward.”

Assistant city administrator Larry Koenig said during the budget public hearing Monday city staff feels the budget is a realistic portrayal of receipts and expenditures.

“Certainly it indicates we are undertaking major expenses in utilities, water, electric and other major infrastructure projects,” Koenig said, adding, “I describe this as a pretty ambitious budget.”

Realistically, Koenig said, it may not be possible to accommodate every project, “but we’re gonna give it a try.”

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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