PORTAGE | The two candidates seeking the mayor's seat in Portage might not agree on much, except that the next administration is going to have to make some tough decisions when it comes to city finances.

They also agree the city will need to find creative ways to increase revenue, but differ on how that should be done.

"As a business owner, I have to be proactive, not reactive. As mayor of Portage, I will have to be proactive and not reactive," said Republican candidate James Snyder. "Property taxes are very close to my heart, not only as a homeowner, but I also own a mortgage business."

Snyder, an advocate of the Hometown Matters initiative, which would give more financial control to local communities, said the city has to look at ways to replace property taxes with other sources of revenue.

Democrat Olga Velazquez has ideas of her own on creating additional revenue or saving money for the city.

She'd like to centralize purchasing within the city and possibly partner with the school district on anything from purchasing supplies to technology and information systems management.

"We can decrease costs, get a better bang for our buck by purchasing in bulk," she said, adding health care costs and improving energy efficiency of city-owned buildings are other issues to examine.

"We are currently self-insured. We want to continue health benefits for employees and families, but we have to look to see if there is a better way to provide good quality benefits to employees and save money," she said.

Velazquez and Snyder also explained their views on other financial-related issues within the city:

Impact fees

"Impact fees are useful tools. It does not put a strain or add fees to homeowners who have lived here. It is a fair way for a new homeowner to buy into the equity current homeowners have been paying for years," said Velazquez, adding the fees also have to be fair to developers.

"We want to work with them and be consumer friendly," she said, pointing to the park department impact fee implemented earlier this year.

After a study, a $754 fee was recommended. The Plan Commission recommended the fee be raised to $827, but the City Council, including Velazquez, voted to lower the fee to $700 for each new housing start.

Snyder criticized the council for cutting the fee.

"I believe it is a good way to create revenue," he said.

"The city spent money on a study and said $754 a house. The Park Board agreed. They shouldn't have cut it at the last minute on the thought of politics."

Both candidates said they would look at the possibility of additional impact fees.

But Snyder said they should be targeted more toward businesses than residential development.

"Businesses moving here are getting off pretty good," he said.

Tax abatements

"Tax abatements are tools. Right now in this city we have been giving them out carte blanche and we need to reassess where these tax abatements go," said Snyder, criticizing companies that received abatements and then didn't attend a city job fair. He also criticized Menards and Kohl's for holding their job fairs out of the city.

"That will not happen when I am mayor," he said.

Velazquez said tax abatements should be based on new job development, the quality of those jobs and the company's commitment to stay in the city and invest in the community.

"They should not be given carte blanche. Each request should be looked at individually," she said.

"As they grow, the tax base grows and the burden is lowered to taxpayers," said Velazquez, adding that last year the city collected more taxes on abated development than on what it would have on the undeveloped property.

Velazquez said competition is also a factor.

"We are in a fiercely competitive market with our neighboring states, who are luring businesses from us. While we're not going to give away the store. We want to be in the running to attract good-paying jobs," she said.

User fees

"In general, they are a more fair way of sharing the cost of doing business in the city," said Velazquez, using the building department as an example.

People who need its services, such as getting a building permit, should pay for those services.

Both the building and planning departments are self-sufficient because of recent shifts in those departments to use the fees to support their budgets, she said.

Snyder also supports user fees.

"Different departments should be able to create sensible charges for their services," Snyder said.

Snyder said, if elected, he'd like to see fees set for commercial fire inspections. Each year, he said, the city's fire inspector is required to inspect businesses. It is currently done for free.

"It doesn't make any sense. The business should pay instead of the homeowners," he said.

Trash fees

"We need to recycle better as a city to keep our garbage fee low," said Snyder, who is proposing a recycling program, which he believes will save the city $250,000 in landfill fees. That money can be used to improve infrastructure, hire employees and boost salaries, he said.

Snyder said he'll go door to door to educate residents on recycling, seek grants to get larger recycling containers and make recycling easier for residents.

Velazquez said she's opposed to increasing garbage fees.

"We have to improve upon recycling efforts to reduce waste going to the landfill and look at ways recycling can make money for us," Velazquez said.