Letter to the Editor: decorahnews.com story about city budget is terribly misleading at best

(The following Letter to the Editor has been submitted by Kirk Johnson of Decorah):

"The information regarding the FY18 budget on Decorahnews, and the manner in which it was conveyed, is incredibly misleading at best.

First and foremost, there is not a budget crisis. Our budgets are prepared 18 months in advance. Our budgets are prepared to reflect base cost only with no contingency for emergencies, unknown expenses or projects which may and do arise during every budget year. Things do come up: (flood damage, washed out trails, unsafe fire trucks, leaky roofs, broken water mains, etc...).

Also, included within the amendment are costs which may or may not be expended this fiscal year--for instance, the TRT Box Culvert project recently approved. This project will be offset by grant dollars, but given the time of year, reimbursement won't be received until FY19.

Below is an accounting of past budget amendments for the past few years. As you can plainly see, last year's reconciliation is nearly identical to this year's... and FY 13 was nearly double this year's. Did you report any of these previous budget amendments?:
FY18       2.620/m
FY17       2.551/m
FY16       1.591/m
FY15       1.527/m
FY14       1.532/m
FY13       4.517/m
There is no budget busting crisis. This is nothing new, nor is it anything to be alarmed by. It is simply an annual procedure that we are required to do this time of year every year. The money to pay the bills is in place, and the city is required to amend the budget publicly in a fiscally responsible manner.

However, this year it also happens to coincide with a very important referendum coming up in a few days. It seems disingenuous that someone with the knowledge you have about city budgets and procedures would take this opportunity to needlessly alarm the public."

(decorahnews.com responds: Our story was about the city budget.  Anyone who sees this as tied to the May 1st referendum is reading too much into our story.  Once again, we have not taken, nor will we take, a position on the May 1st referendum, since our job is to provide information and let others discuss the significance.  Our story about the city budget used figures from the Notice of Public Hearing on the Amendment of the FY2017-2018 City Budget.")