Holland City update

Keith Van Beek started by reminding us of the financial process in place at the City of Holland. The operating budget is $20 million; with additional operations such as parks and utilities, it is $200 million.  The budget is developed through informal sessions between the council and citizens. Next, a strategic and business plan is put together and available for review and comment by 1 April. Then the final budget is presented to the city council before the 1 July start of the fiscal year.

Some cities are behind on maintaining their infrastructure. Holland has a 10-year plan for capital improvements and budgeting. Some planning looks forward 20 years.

City voters recently approved the rollback of the Headlee amendment limits. The millage authorized for the city is 17.5 mills, but only 13.869 has been collected. Without the rollback, the limit would have decreased past this amount in a few years.

More developments…

City projects in the past year included:

• Ice Park - 33,685 skating sessions, 213 curling sessions, 45 school groups with free lessons,and 8,219 cups of hot chocolate.
• Kollen Park Fire Station Renovation - on time and under budget, enough to buy a new pump truck with the surplus.
• Holland City Fiber - only one area of the city is yet to be connected. $45/month for 2 Gb speed.

Projects coming soon 

• The new Recreation Center will allow moving programs out of school buildings to the new center to be built by Smallenberg Park. Basketball/volleyball courts and multi-use areas are part of this. Bouws Pool and the Rotary playground will be upgraded.
• The area recycling center on Chicago Drive by Black River Recycling will be opening soon and will accept recyclables not currently being recycled.
• Bike park accessible through Window on the Waterfront.