As a result of a $645,000 cut from the Iowa Legislature in June, Ames will have less money for the 2003—04 city budget, city officials said Tuesday at a public meeting.

“We will start this year a little further behind than we did last year,” said Duane Pitcher, city finance director.

The City Council approved cuts June 24 after the legislature cut state revenue for the city, according to Daily Staff reports. Cuts were made to a number of city programs, including self-insured health care costs, to make up for the loss.

Illegal parking fines were also increased from $5 to $10.

The library, police, fire department and parks and recreation were all affected by the cuts.

The city will also face a $492,945 increase in the amount needed to cover health care benefits for city employees, $108,000 more than the previous year to run the new fire station, and an additional $86,309 to maintain the level of service for CyRide operations.

City Manager Steve Schainker said there are ways in which the city can save money.

In addition to cutting services and programs, the city will try to alleviate costs by contracting certain services city employees would normally be paid to do. Some of these services include snow removal, garbage collection, tree-trimming and park and cemetery maintenance.

It is usually cheaper to hire a contractor for the services that are required for only a few months out of the year, such as snow removal, instead of paying city staff for the entire year, Schainker said.

“We look at every service we have, and if it can be done more cheaply and at the same level of service, we will look outside [of city government],” Schainker said.

Budget cuts may also have an affect on property taxes, although not necessarily this year.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said property taxes might have to be increased due to the cuts.

“[There is a] serious possibility [the cuts] could lead to a property tax increase in the next year,” Quirmbach said.

Property taxes have decreased by over 5 percent since the 2001-2002 year.

The budget cuts have not been easy for City Council to deal with, Schainker said.

“It’s very difficult for the council to do this, but I think they do an excellent job,” Schainker said.