ShawneeDispatch.com

Reset.

Over the past year, Shawnee used that stopwatch button more than any other, Mayor Jeff Meyers said this week, gripping a familiar coaching tool to illustrate his state of the city address.

Things are looking up in Shawnee, Meyers said. But the city continues to face challenges, and adapting to meet them isn’t always painless.

“It’s an ever-changing world,” he said. “A lot of times, you do have to hit that reset button.”

Meyers gave the annual address during this month’s Shawnee Chamber of Commerce luncheon Feb. 9 at Shawnee Town Hall. In his second term as mayor, Meyers’ full-time job is as a teacher and head football coach at Olathe East High School.

As the city continues to face diminishing revenues, leaders shouldn’t tackle the budget like a sprint, but rather like a distance race, he said.

Projected revenue for 2011 is down $1.2 million from what the city received in 2007, Meyers said.

While the city may have endured the most drastic budget-driven cuts over the past two years, prioritizing and paying for services will continue to be difficult, Meyers said. The goal is to make the most impact with the fewest resources.

City leaders realize that resetting programs and procedures can affect their neighbors, friends and co-workers, Meyers said. However, he said, “City government cannot afford to be all things to everyone.”

Last year, Shawnee reset the process by which staff and council members plan for the budget.

After qualifying for a better bond rating, the city reset the rating to save money on interest payments.

City staff and council members reviewed numerous procedures and programs, scouring them for ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Police tried new ways to fight crime, including a focused policing effort credited with significantly reducing crime in the 75th Street corridor.

In recent years the city has reduced its full-time workforce from 293 to 271, or by 7 percent, meaning existing employees have taken on new tasks. In one example, Meyers said, firefighters now help with snow removal.

Resetting will continue to be a theme for 2011, the mayor said.

This month the council will consider a request from Deffenbaugh Industries to extend the life of the Johnson County Landfill by 16 years.

Due to an increase in recycling and a decrease in construction waste, plus advancements in compacting technology, the landfill is filling up slower than expected. It’s now expected to fill by 2043 instead of 2027.

Meyers said approving the extension would be a “winning solution.”

Finding space and paying to build a new landfill would be costly for all Johnson County taxpayers, he said. And Shawnee stands to benefit by extending Deffenbaugh’s impact fee along with the landfill’s life, bringing in money the city can use for important projects like roads.

Meyers said he also expects to field requests for Community Improvement Districts to boost the city’s aging strip malls. The 2012 budget process will be a challenge, as well.

“We are starting a new chapter in Shawnee’s history,” he said.

Comments