I am pleased to announce that not only were there no tax increases in our 2000 budget, there will not be any in 2001 either. My administration will not recommend the installation of water meters in single family homes. Several of our city departments are updating their procedures. Our financial department has modernized accounting processes and increased investment income resulting in more efficient cash management. Positive changes have also taken place in our water department.
Unpaid bills inherited from the previous administration are in the process of being collected.
Audits to identify city properties that have never received water bills are underway. Contracts that had been allowed to lapse are being renegotiated, while others, which had been negotiated but never implemented, are in the process of being renegotiated. Contracts where users outside our city s boundaries were paying fees well below the cost to the City to perform contracted services are also being renegotiated. We are nearing completion on a plan to ship sludge from our wastewater treatment plants in the 1st and 2nd wards to sites in either Auburn or Watertown. In the field of economic development, I have established an Economic Task Force charged with developing ways our city can attract industry.