The Canby City Council has passed the proposed $14.5 million budget for fiscal year 2000-01 on first reading at its June 21 meeting.

The budget proposed by the Canby Budget Committee represents an 11.5 percent increase on the city's current $13 million budget. The document still requires approval on second reading at the council's July 5 meeting.

The budget is bigger because of higher costs for materials and supplies, for health and liability insurance for city staff, and for labor. In addition, the impact on revenues from voter-approved Measure 50, the property tax limitation law, is beginning to be felt by the city, officials say.

Among the expenditures included in the proposed budget, devised by city staff and honed by the Canby Budget Committee, are $300,000 for the design and construction of the Canby Skate Park, the first phase of a planned regional park and sports fields.

Earth-moving work continues at the Northwest Third Avenue site, west of the Canby Post Office, and concrete is expected to be poured early next month. About $241,000 of the total is to be paid to the skate park's building contractor.

The proposed budget also includes $200,000 for street improvements and beautification projects along Northwest Second Avenue, $53,000 for a transportation needs study by Portland State University, and $50,000 to develop a master plan for the under-consideration Thirteenth Avenue-Ackerman Middle School recreation complex.

Also included in the budget is $135,000 to pay for engineering and improvements to the municipal sewer treatment plant, $24,000 to purchase a new pickup truck, and $20,000 to buy a street-striping machine.

About $52,000 was set aside in the general fund as contingency for possible increases in PERS retirement fund contributions that the city would have to pay for its staff and employees. In addition, about $40,000 was set aside in the street improvements fund as contingency for possible PERS increases for street department employees.

The budget also calls for $12,000 to be taken out of the Canby Swim Center's capital reserve fund to be used to replace its decaying roof, and $20,000 to study whether the city's existing user fees are adequate or need to be adjusted.

Local youth sports and non-profit groups applied to have their programs funded by the city, as many do each year. The budget committee recommended funding levels.

Canby Kids Inc. is due to receive $25,000, as is Canby Community Schools. Both established groups had sought $30,000 each in funding, but the $10,000 in savings were earmarked to be allocated to the Canby Historical Society, which runs the Canby Depot Museum on North Pine Street near the fairgrounds. El Programa Hispano Centro de Canby, a non-profit social services agency located at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, asked for $34,000 in funding, and is slated to receive $17,000. Local cable television service OCTS is due to receive more than $31,600, and the Canby Adult Center would get $30,000. The budget committee, which met for months to mold the budget's priorities, consisted of the six city councilors and two citizens. City staff presented a balanced budget to the committee, which worked diligently on the document. Despite the larger budget, property owners in Canby are not expected to see large increases in property taxes, unless they make expensive additions or home improvements.

State property tax limitation laws fixed Canby's municipal tax rate at about $3.49 for each $1,000 of assessed valuation.

The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 last year, and which has not had improvements made to it, would pay the city about $698 in property taxes for fiscal year 2000-01 - about the same as 1999-2000.

If the value of that same home increases by 2.5 percent - the estimate the city is using in its calculations - to $205,000, however, its owner would pay about $715 to the city for the upcoming fiscal year.

In other council news, the Urban Renewal District Agency, which consists of the City Council, adopted a $284,634 budget for the URD, which included $34,634 in transfers from the URD's operating fund to its debt service.

Personnel costs of $79,300 are the largest expense, and the biggest capital overlay is $75,000 for engineering work for Sequoia Parkway, near the Canby Market Center, which is due to begin later this summer.

Councilors also approved awarding a contract for the South Pine Street overlay project, and discussed a draft interagency agreement with the Sister City Association, whose members pulled weeds and did a cleanup at Triangle Park last weekend.