The Carbondale City Council met Tuesday to discuss the city’s upcoming budget problems.

City Manager Kevin Baity read his preliminary budget report to the council and said the city is looking at a $731,000 budget shortfall.

Baity said the city is looking at roughly the same revenue, but an increase in expenditures through pensions, preexisting labor contracts and utility costs, among others, left the city in a deficit.

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Acting Mayor Don Monty said solving the budget crisis was going to take some sacrificing.

“This is a tough decision for the city council to have to face,” he said. “On the one hand, we have to balance – I’m trying to be careful with my choice of words here – the evil of raising taxes versus, on the other hand, the very unpleasant situation of reducing funding to our services.”

The council discussed several options including raising the sales tax, property tax, hotel and motel tax and cutting some community programs.

Councilman Fronaburger said balancing the budget was only one aspect the conversation needed to address.

“First of all, this discussion needs to encompass a much larger issue,” he said. “Not only do we need additional revenue and funds to balance the yearly operating budget, but we need additional funds for community investment projects.”

Fronaburger said without investing in revenue-generating community projects, Carbondale will be in the same situation in a matter of years.

Councilman Lance Jack agreed with Fronaburger and said the city needs to work with the university to solve the economic woes.

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“It all boils down to we need more money,” he said. “The easiest way for us to do that is to increase student involvement and help the university increase student involvement. I think one of the ways we do that is to continue to make this the entertainment, arts and cultural capital of southern Illinois.”

Jack said the council is not doing enough to encourage business and development in the community. He said there were several ordinances and laws the council imposed over the last 10 years – such as the cap on liquor licenses and number of operable bars between Mill Street and Walnut Avenue – which drive away business and commerce.

“Frankly, I’m at a point that, and I think a lot of people in town are, where we just start taking chance,” he said. “Because if we don’t take a chance and try to get something going, we’re never going to get anywhere. And I can guarantee if we keep heading where we’ve been going with city policy and university policy for the last 20 years, we’re going to continue down the same exact path we’ve been on.”

The crowd of over 40 applauded after Jack’s impassioned speech.

The council also passed an ordinance allowing them to control the right-of-ways for cable companies. The ordinance allows the city to maintain how the right-of-ways are used and levy fines if the company, identified in this specific case as Mediacom, provides substandard service repeatedly.

They also announced the release of their review into the Brightfield’s solar panel development at the property located at 1555 N. Marion St., commonly known as the Koppers site. Brightfield’s placed an application for a special use permit to build a solar array earlier in the year.

A group of community members asked the council to postpone the vote until further informational meetings could be held. The council released their review and responses to the community’s questions at Tuesday’s meeting. It is available at city hall and at the Carbondale Public Library.

The next city council meeting is a closed session Feb. 18 to discuss potential candidates for the vacant seat.

Seth Richardson can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @EgyptianRich or at 536-3311 ext. 268.