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Session 1223, Minutes
<br />June 25, 1979
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<br />Page 7
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<br />Councilman Lieberman said he wished to clarify one point. There will be a tax in-
<br />crease for the debt retirement fund, the library fund and the pension fund, but
<br />any increase in the general fund will be offset by a decrease in the utility tax.
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<br />Karen Safe, 6921 Waterman, speaking for the Community Resources Coalition, said this
<br />group wants to go on record as supporting the revenue bills which reduce the gross
<br />receipts tax by 2%, with the corresponding increase in the property tax.
<br />
<br />Speaking for herself, Ms Safe said she supported Councilman Kelley's position of a
<br />5¢ increase in the library fund, with the funds needed at the beginning of their
<br />fiscal year coming from the city rather than being borrowed from a bank.
<br />
<br />Brent K. Mandry, 7143 Pershing, an architect, spoke on the tax increase for the li-
<br />brary, specifically the establishment of a fund for capital replacement of items
<br />such as air conditioning, carpeting, boiler, roof, etc. Mr. Mandry said he under-
<br />stood that the library estimated a life expectancy of 14 to 15 years for some of
<br />the items Just mentioned, and he felt most of those items should have a life expec-
<br />tancy of at least twenty years. He wondered where those figures came from. Bruce
<br />Collins, Director of the Library, responded. He said none of those items needed re-
<br />placement now, but there is no capital replacement fund, and the library should have
<br />on in order to maintain or replace things as needed. For example, the roof, accord-
<br />ing to the roofer, has a life expectancy of 10 years, and the library will be 10
<br />years old in December, 1979. Mr. Collins said 2%¢ of the proposed 10¢ increase is
<br />for capital replacement, and this amount would raise about $25,000 a year.
<br />
<br />Dwight Irwin, 6255 Clemens, representative of the Community Education program, gave
<br />Council the final figures for their budget which he had promised to bring to this
<br />week's Council meeting. He said the request for funding from the city and school
<br />district remains the same at $15,165 each. He also said expected revenue from the
<br />summer camp program will be $6750.
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<br />Rubin Schlafman, 747 Yale, spoke generally about the budget, and the fight against
<br />inflation. He feels each individual should contribute whatever he can to combat in-
<br />flation. He spoke against offering a general pay increase to city employees. He
<br />said the 7% scheduled for their increase would save the city and the taxpayer
<br />$200,000 if it is not given. He said another $200,000 could be saved by reducing
<br />the utilities tax by 1%. He said each of us must exercise restraint when it comes
<br />to fighting inflation.
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<br />Councilman Adams said he felt the city employees should not be penalized because
<br />inflation is so prevalent, and in fact a 7% raise is not even keeping up with the
<br />inflation rate.
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<br />ANNOUNCEMENT OF BOND BIDS FROM SPECIAL M~ETING OF JUNE 21~ 1979
<br />
<br />Mayor Mooney said the bids received for $1,200,000 in street improvement bonds
<br />which were authorized by the citizens of University City at the bond issue election
<br />on April 3, 1979, were opened at a special Council meeting on Thursday, June 21,
<br />1979. There were four bids from banks, in combination with investment houses,
<br />which were United Missouri Bank of Kansas City, Harris Trust and Savings, F~rst
<br />National Bank of St. Louis, and Citizens Bank of University City (in conjunction
<br />with Mercantile Trust). The Mayor said the bids received were about 1% less than
<br />anticipated, because of the financial solvency of University City. He said the
<br />iow bid received was 5.366%, thus saving the City about $12,000 a year in interest
<br />expense over what was anticipated.
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