Dear Friends,
At last night’s City Council meeting, we introduced a municipal budget with a tax increase of zero.
We had proposed a budget earlier this year with a small tax increase to help pay for our capital improvements and other costs. But after everything our taxpayers have sacrificed in the past few months, I wanted to do everything I can to help them.
The entire city team went back to the drawing board and made the cuts and adjustments necessary to make this possible. A copy of the introduced budget is available here. The budget is in City Council’s hands now, and a final vote is scheduled for June 25.
I want to acknowledge the unacceptable conditions of some of our roadways as improvement projects stretch past Memorial Day Weekend, the traditional cutoff for road work.
We are meeting with the county Municipal Utilities Authority to address and rectify the situation on Bay Avenue. I want to see all of our roads restored to a safe and acceptable condition.
The city filed legal action this week to take the former car dealership lot next to the Community Center. This is just the beginning of a long process. The courts will decide the price. But I am confident that we are on a path to fully acquire the property before the end of the year. We are continuing our efforts to acquire two adjacent properties to preserve all open space in the area.
I continue to speak every week with the governor’s office, our lobbyist, our legislative representatives, business leaders, health professionals, citizens and others.
I want you to know that we are doing everything within our power to get our city back open. Our local hospital and doctors are reporting that trends are down, and we have seen no recent spikes. We will have to continue our vigilance to make sure we see no resurgence.
But our small businesses pose no more of a health threat than the many large “essential” stores that have been allowed to operate.
Michele and I received some great news today. Josh and Lauren are the proud parents of a baby boy named Cole. We are blessed with our eighth grandchild – it’s a happy moment in these uncertain times.
Warm regards,
Mayor Jay A. Gillian
