Wasilla unveils plans for city

WASILLA -- Ted Leonard, finance director for the city of Wasilla, recently drew up a 2004-2005 fiscal year budget outline for the city. These plans reflect not only the city's financial plans, but its overarching intentions as a unit.

Leonard referred to the list of initiatives as "a road map of what we want to do with the budget."

"The goals and budget initiatives in this year's budget reflect … the city of Wasilla's commitment to provide the highest level of public service," said the plan's mission statement.

The goals of the city of Wasilla during the 2005 fiscal year are sixfold: to keep local government small, efficient and accountable; to encourage a strong and diverse economic base; preserve and improve city infrastructure; develop stable and equitable sources of revenue; pursue self-sufficiency for such projects as water, sewer, airport and the sports complex; and to maintain a standard of law enforcement within the city.

Among the initiatives planned by the city are a reduction of the property tax mill rate to .4 mills and transferring at least $1 million for infrastructure investments. This is equivalent to reducing the operational budget by $1 million and using the safeguarded money for a predetermined purpose.

The city also plans to launch an initiative to update its Web site and provide electronic access to city forms so that residents of Wasilla can access current city lawmaking processes easily. Upgrades are also planned for city government Internet connections and involvement.

Despite the city's recent agreement with the city of Palmer to allow its neighboring city water and sewer access to the upcoming Valley Medical Center, the budget will make provisions for construction of these same utilities along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. This project is intended to encourage development of the corridor between the Parks Highway and Knik-Goose Bay Road.

The city will also continue to pursue a resolution for its wastewater permitting issues to allow expanded sewer service in the 2005 fiscal year. A new wastewater permit would allow Wasilla to provide sewer service to a greater quantity of local residents. Leonard emphasized the need for Wasilla to acquire additional utility customers in order to enhance its provision grid.

"For our system, it's important to fill in the gaps and get new customers," Leonard said.

The city hopes to broaden its utility customer base by extending its water and sewer system toward the Wasilla Municipal Airport and along Bogard Road, the Parks Highway and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

The city will also continue to develop its Regional Communication Center by implementing a Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management system. This process, already underway, is expected to approach conclusion toward the end of this summer.

Though work on the Multi-Use Sports Complex has recently concluded, the city still hopes to enhance the facility with outdoor sports fields, a kitchen and emergency generators for conversion of the complex to an emergency center, and a rock-climbing wall. The city will seek funding from private foundations to handle the costs of these projects, which are listed in the sports complex plan but have not yet been implemented. The city will also endeavor to promote the use of the complex by the public and the value of advertisement within the facility to local businesses.

The next step is to give the proposed budget plan to the city's department heads, who will draw up their own individual budgets for the upcoming year. These documents will then be compiled into a master budget for the entire city.

In short, next year's budget predicts a busy year for Wasilla.

"You'd think we'd take a deep breath after this year, with the construction of the sports center and all," Leonard said. "But we just don't slow down."

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.