Aumsville leaders celebrated steady progress toward major accomplishments during the State of the City Address Feb. 12 at the Aumsville City Council meeting.
Delivered by City Administrator Ron Harding, the 40-minute presentation focused on community well-being, infrastructure development and economic growth.
A major highlight was the city’s fiscal health. Harding said in 2016 the city budget had little in reserve at the end of the fiscal year including negative balances in operations, police and water/sewer.
Harding said this improved after a new council ordinance requiring a year-end cash balance equal to at least 90 days of expenses. By the 2017-2018 fiscal year, these once-negative departments were meeting this new standard, and in more recent years achieved more than double the 90-day target.
“We’ve got sustainable budgets,” said Harding. “We can purchase the things that the city needs.”
He also highlighted recent grant successes, including $7.7 million in 2022 and $13.25 in 2023. These included a $6 million forgivable USDA loan, more than $5.5 million in pandemic relief dollars, and $5 million in dedicated state spending.
Harding said, prior to 2022, it was a big deal if the city received more than $100,000 in grants yearly, as small towns tend to be less competitive than bigger cities. The numbers are even more significant considering the total city budget in a normal year is around $3 million, he said.
Harding said it’s “pretty remarkable” to now have grant totals in the eight figures and this is something the council can feel good about sharing with the community.
Of the $21 million in recent grants, $14.2 million went toward ongoing efforts to build a new wastewater treatment facility, which has a total project goal of $28.4 million. A $9 million USDA grant has also been secured, while a $4 million grant/loan package from DEQ is pending, and the city is contributing $1.2 million of its own funding.
Harding said the city is still looking for ways to drive down the total debt taken out for the project, such as a $4 million funding request during the current legislative session. He said the total loans will significantly impact sewer rates and they are “looking for every avenue” to reduce potential debt.
Community engagement was also a significant highlight, with investments in existing city-planned events and new offerings.
Harding said they have reorganized the Corn Festival to offer more to visitors without adding more strain on volunteers, while also improving the volunteer experience. He said they also created successful new programs such as a pumpkin walk last fall with all pumpkins given away within an hour.
“We have a great turnout for all of these events and the feedback from the community I think has been really positive,” he said.
Another community win, he said, has been the increased level of engagement at City Hall with Spanish-speaking residents. Harding said more city employees are able to speak Spanish. The city is also creating Spanish-language publications, allowing more people to engage with the city.
There were also wins for community policing, with officers taking a more proactive approach, Harding said. There has been a 40% increase in calls for service in recent years, not because crime has risen but as the result of officers making more citizen contacts.
The city was able to free up more hours for proactive policing partly by reducing the time spent on callouts in other jurisdictions, said Harding. He said the city adopted a policy of responding to outside calls when a person’s health or safety is at risk such as a domestic violence call, and otherwise officers respond locally.
