Monday night, people in Traverse City got their first chance to see what the city’s budget would look like for next year and where the money will be spent.
The city along with Traverse City Light and Power and the Downtown Development Authority are planning a number of infrastructure projects around the city.
Despite the city planning to spend $70 million in infrastructure projects, the Interim City Manager, Nate Geinzer, says they will need to be mindful of their spending.
“Certainly, inflation has played a role in how much we’re able to get done. A million dollars in streets and utility improvements just doesn’t go as far as it use to go,” Geinzer explains.
Geinzer says there’s a lot of needs they don’t have dollars identified for.
“And that’s going to be the work being done here in the fiscal year of `23, `24.”
Traverse City officials still expect to have a productive year with projects planned to upgrade the city’s wastewater treatment facility and the Grandview Parkway.
“There’s just a lot of big issues coming forward to the city in the coming years and we need to build a strategy so we can really help improve the community long-term,” Geinzer states.
Along with the city’s plans, the DDA has big projects of their own. There’s a new parking structure coming to the west end of town with a new housing development attached to it, as well as adding two pedestrian bridges over the Boardman River.
“It’s really to maintain the infrastructure, to upgrade the public infrastructure and really look and prepare for the future in downtown Traverse City,” Traverse City DDA CEO, Jean Derenzy, reports.
Geinzer says this year’s budget will get the tings the city needs done, done, while also keeping the future of Traverse City in mind.
“This year we’ll be spending a lot more time steeping back and also really looking at the broader strategy beyond one year, and really looking out to three, four five years in the future. To keep the city of Traverse City the great place it is today,” Geinzer says.
The next fiscal year starts at the beginning of October. Click here to see the full budget.
