(Atlantic, Iowa) – The City Council in Atlantic will meet 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, in their chambers at City Hall. First-off, they’ll act on two Orders: Engineering Agreements with Snyder and Associates, for the Soccer Field Project, and Splashpad Project. City Administrator John Lund says both have been endorsed by the Parks and Recreation Board. The Splashpad Project itself is not included in the City’s 10-year Capital Improvement Plan, and will be financed by fundraising.

Along that same line, the Council will discuss and act on a number of issues pertaining to the Fundraising Committee. City Auditors Gronewold, Bell, Kyhnn & Co., P.C., have raised questions about the fundraising process, including those pertaining to checks and balances.

• Website Ownership: Who owns the (fundraising) website? Who is going to pay for the domain name? Will it come from donated funds? If the City owns the website, it cannot accept donations made through Venmo and PayPal. If SHIFT ATL owns the website, are there going to be fees associated with using either of the aforementioned payment methods? Who is going to absorb those fees?
• Fees charged for the service. The Auditors say the agreement needs to outline the fees that SHIFT will charge for the use of their services. If there is no charge, that needs to be stated as well.
• No cash withdrawals allowed from bank account.
• Checks drawn on the bank account shall only be made out to the City – No checks to vendors or individuals.
• Bank statements will be provided to the City Clerk/Treasurer, not the Park Board.
• The biggest concern of the Auditor’s according to John Lund, is that SHIFT is an unaudited organization. While they do have a CPA, they are still unaudited.

Lund said a number of the issues appear to be indirectly addressed in the agreement, while others may yet be addressed by the Fundraising Committee or SHIFT representatives, during Wednesday’s meeting. In other the Council will receive a presentation by John Lund on the FY 2024 Budget, 10-year Budget Projections, and 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Afterward, there will be a Public Hearing on the FY 24 Maximum Property Tax Dollars for certain levies, followed by action on approving a Resolution for the same. Lund says “Due to the extreme chaos of the implementation of the new Business Property Tax Credit/Commercial Rollback and the late adjustment of the residential rollback, the final property tax dollars for FY 24 is not yet known. That will be published in the paper prior to the levy vote.”

Here are the levies and property tax dollars for the FY 23 and expected levies FY 24, for comparison (Click on the image to make full-size):

The Council will act on Resolutions setting April 19, 2023, as the date for Adopting the FY 2024 Budget, and Proposed FY 2024 10-year CIP, followed by a the setting of a Public Hearing on setting the date for the sale of City-owned property at 1310 Chestnut. The Council has previously accepted a bid of $1 from Jay & Kelsi Eden, who intend to completely renovate and flip a home on the property. Other Council business includes setting Public Hearings on April 19th for dissolving the Community Promotion Commission and Cable TV Committee. And, the Council will hold the second reading of an Ordinance with regard to Mobile Food Vendors (Food trucks) being required to have a permit, purchased no less than 10-days in advance of an event they plan on attending, in order for Atlantic Police to complete a background check and so they City Clerk may prepare the necessary paperwork. The permit does not apply to “Brick-and-mortar” businesses within the corporate limits of Atlantic, and vendors that are catering private events not otherwise open to the public.