Aldermen vote to transfer money to pay for Broadway project, extend food and beverage tax until 2030

QUINCY — Before debating funding of the Quincy Public Library and passing the 2025-26 budget, the Quincy City Council had to first take care of two other budgetary issues.

First, aldermen voted to transfer $4 million from the city’s $6 million general fund balance to the water and sewage fund to pay for a water main replacement project on Broadway from 24th to 30th Street.

The moving of money was necessary to pay for the Broadway project, as well as planned projects on College Avenue from Fourth to Eighth Street (in the city’s 2nd Ward) and Jackson from Fifth to 12th (which spans the city’s 6th and 7th Wards). Both projects have previously been delayed.

Aldermen also voted to continue the 1 percent tax on food and beverages, with a sunset date of Nov. 30, 2030. However, exactly what the money collected with that tax could be spent on wasn’t entirely clear.

The ordinance that aldermen gave a second reading to last week called for limiting the food and beverage tax dollars to be spent on “tourism and tourism-related activities and operations or in a manner approved by the City Council.”

An amended ordinance, given to aldermen on Monday, changed how the food and. beverage tax dollars could be spent on “tourism, tourism-related activities and capital/infrastructure as approved by the Quincy City Council.

“We presented it so that way, you’d be able to see what your amendment would be,” said Jason Parrott, director of planning and development. “If you wanted to approve the amended version, you would just make a motion here to amend to as to the amendment as presented in the packet.”

Alderman Jeff Bergman (R-2) asked if the newly amended ordinance specified the dollar amount that would go to capital projects. Parrott said no.

“You can add (a specific amount or percentage) with the amendment, but we wanted it to leave it vague for you guys to be able to adjust as you wanted,” Parrott said. “Any proposal that would come forward would be approved by the council. If you want to take it a step further and put in a percentage of what’s collected to be here, here, here, you have that option. We did not want to buckle you into an amount like that.”

“Having some specificity is very important,” Mike Rein (R-5) said. “This doesn’t have much specificity, and I think we need to have that in there. It gives us some guidance as well.”

Rein suggested extended the current food and beverage tax ordinance for 90 days, allowing the administration under Mayor-elect Linda Moore to look at it and decided if the tax needs to be kept and/or altered. Ben Uzelac (D-7) made a motion to extend the tax without a sunset date.

“In theory, we could adopt (the ordinance) this evening, circle back in a couple weeks as a body and have that discussion (about what the tax dollars will be spent on),” he said. 

“In a month or two, we could say, ‘No, no, no, we want to go this way instead of that way,” Greg Fletcher (R-1) said. 

Eric Entrup (R-1) made a motion for the sunset date to be established.

“In a couple months, let’s talk about the terms and how we want to go about that with the tax,” he said. “I think we can adjust that. That’s a great idea with our new aldermen who we’ll have up here and our new mayor.”

Rein seconded the motion, and amending food and beverage tax ordinance (to include the sunset date in 2030) passed 12-2, with Uzelac and Holtschlag voting against it. 

When aldermen voted on adopting the amended ordinance, it passed 8-6. Voting against it were Fletcher, Bergman, Rein, Tony Sassen (R-4), Glen Ebbing (R-5) and Richie Reis (D-6).

However, it was never clear whether the approved ordinance would allow the tax to be spent on capital projects. City officials and alderman told Muddy River News after the meeting they weren’t sure themselves.

When the City Council discussed the transfer of money from the general fund to the water and sewage fund to pay for the water main replacement on Broadway, Bergman questioned if the city should make sure the money is paid back to the general fund — even with no interest.

“We’ve got a couple tough years coming,” he said. “It’s not going to give us much wiggle room left on the general fund balance.

“In the 10 years (Entrup) and I have been here, police and fire pensions have gone up about $5 million. Police and fire pension costs are … up about $500,000 from last year. We used $2 million in the general fund to help keep property taxes flat for the city portion. With this action, it doesn’t give us a whole lot of room or a whole lot of time to figure out what we’re going to do going forward as far as property taxes to keep it flat for the taxpayers.”

Bergman said he hopes the city will have positive sales tax numbers this year to push the general fund balance back to $3.5 million or $4 million. 

“But the day is coming, property taxpayers,” he said. “We’re running out of options. We run out of general fund money to keep property taxes flat.”

Kelly Mays (R-3) asked if the money for the Broadway project could be “transferred as needed.”

“We’re probably not going to do every street project that we think we will,” she said. “We would like to, but we probably won’t.”

Director of Public Works Jeffrey Conte said the money is needed to encumber the Broadway project, preventing the money from being spent and getting a contract signed. Projects on College Avenue from Fourth to Eighth Street (in the city’s 2nd Ward) and Jackson from Fifth to 12th (which spans the city’s 6th and 7th Wards) have previously been delayed but are scheduled to be done this year as well.

“We need the funds to do the water and sewer portion of the streets,” Conte said,. “Whether they get done in next month or a year from now, we’re still going to need the money to do the project. It’s going to collect interest if it sits in the bank, which gets returned to the general fund.”

Aldermen eventually voted 13-1, with Bergman the lone no vote, to approve the transfer with no funds to be paid back.