Politics & Government

City of Mentor's Proposed Budget Would Focus on Roads, Infrastructure

Mentor's administration and City Council discussed the proposed 2012 budget during a work session Tuesday

Mentor City Manager Kenneth Filipiak presented a proposed 2012 budget to City Council Tuesday.

The budget's priorities are clear: invest in infrastructure. It sets aside about $2 million in city funds for road improvements and another $2 million for repairs and improvements to city buildings.

"The budget is very targeted toward maintaining and upgrading facilities," Filipiak said.

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Moreover, the city has several capital improvement plans on its timeline that are primarily funded by state or federal grants.

Filipiak said his philosophy was to get grant money for the larger projects so they could use local money on neighborhood improvements.

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Overall, the 2012 budget will be about $50 million, the city manager said. That's about the same as in 2011.

Filipiak said stronger than expected income tax collections allowed the city to not cut services, despite .

Some of the projects in the 2012 Mentor budget include:

  • $1.7 million in energy efficiency improvements, which will involve upgrading and replacing inefficient equipment in city buildings. The project is paid for with . Filipiak the energy improvements will pay for themselves over time.
  • The Heisley Road widening will continue through 2013. The $6.7 million project is paid for mostly with federal money. However, the city will also have to spend about $2 million on the project, which will widen Heisley to four lanes between Mentor Avenue and Jackson Street.
  • About $1.5 million has been set aside from the city's street fund for 2012's road repair program. The program focuses on repairs and repaving for side streets.
  • The Route 306 resurfacing will continue in 2012 with most of the money coming from state funds.
  • Engineering will begin on the new on 's property. However, construction will not begin on the basin until outside funding can be found for it.
  • Improvements to the Center Street Detention Basin and near Newell Creek are also slated for 2012. All together, the city expects to spend about $350,000 on stormwater drainage improvements next year.
  • About $225,000 will go to repairing city building roogs in 2010.
  • The Mentor Police Department did not receive any new cruisers this year. Consequently, next year they are scheduled to get eight of them. Moreover, money has also tentatively been scheduled to put cameras in all police cruisers.

Filipiak noted that the budget was tentative and, even when approved, it could still change if circumstances called for it.

"This is a spending plan," he said to Council. "The plan can change as the year goes on."

A summary of Mentor projects with expenditures in 2012 has been attached to this story as a PDF.


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