On Wednesday, February 10, 2010, the Finance Committee met in Council Chambers, that is Sandy Cox, Chairman, and Darrin Lautenschleger, Committee Member, did. The other two members didn’t make it.
The reason for the meeting was to go over the 2010 City budget. This occurs once a year and sets spending for that year. The process is simple. The Committee receives the budget recommendation from the Mayor, then compares the requested expenses to the anticipated income. If expenditures exceed anticipated income, the budget has to be reworked to prevent going into a deficit.
This year the budget brought before the Committee was trimmed to the bone by the Mayor and for just cause. The carryover for 2009, money which is carried over from the previous year to run the city for the first three months of the new year, amounted to $1.5 million. The estimated carryover for 2011 is only $200,000, the economy being the villain. It’s another case of the dreaded “R” word, recession. Income is down although fixed expenses are up.
In no special order, here are some of the highlights:
The Fire Department has had problems with the floor at the fire station. It has sagged recently in recent years and needs to be propped up. Chief Parrish also considers the floor to be a hazard because over the years it has become slick and a number of firefighters have taken some spills. Budgeted: $24,000 to remedy the situation.
The Police Department had few requests for equipment. Their major concern was the purchase of new computers for two police cars and a new video recorder for one of the cars. Budgeted: $18,000. Also budgeted was $14,000 for portable radios and miscellaneous items.
The Sanitation Department received $25,000 for repairs to their garage. This is a priority item because of age and lack of maintenance over the years. The water pipes leak, the roof leaks, the walls leak, and the floor drains don’t drain. The heating is insufficient. The alternative is a new building, at $1.2 million, and the budget can’t afford it.
The Recycling operation needs a new truck. In this case the adage that no good deed goes unpunished, strikes home here. Fred Neff told the committee, that to cut down on expenses, the recycling route schedules were revised to reduce the work week to four days producing an approximate 20% savings. The Stark Tuscarawas Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District has funds available to provide a truck to the City, free of charge, but New Philadelphia isn’t qualified. The reason? We don’t collect recycling five days a week. So as Fred Neff explained it, if we go to five days a week, increase expenses, we might get the gift of a new truck. Neff has appealed this decision but has yet to receive an answer from the Solid Waste District. As a backup plan, Neff requested, and received budget money to buy a used truck for sanitation use not to exceed $18,000.
A used truck was budgeted for the Sewer Department, price not to exceed $12,000. The truck it will replace is held together by rust, has a rusted bed, and a shot transmission. Money was appropriated to replace the cover on one of the holding tanks, a “request” made by the EPA.
The advisability of purchasing used trucks versus new was discussed. The Mayor told the Committee that with proper inspection before purchase, used trucks have held up well in the past. Proper maintenance is essential once purchased. The savings are substantial and decrease in city income makes such decisions reasonable.
An interesting innovation may be coming soon to the Sidewalk Replacement Program. For the past couple of years the program has not been fully utilized. If you are not familiar with the program, the City will pay half the cost of residents replacing their sidewalk provided certain requirements are followed, like filling out the paperwork and submitting it to the Service Director’s office. The Sidewalk budget for this year is $20,000. Ten thousand dollars was unused last year and remains in the fund. A couple of alternatives were suggested for the use of that money. One was to use some of the money, on a fifty-fifty basis, to replace curbing for homeowners. The other was to change the usage limitation from replacing sidewalks to constructing new sidewalks where none presently exist. Note that these are possible alternatives, not done deals. That may take a while.
The Water Department came with a shopping list which included two trucks, a trencher/backhoe, and an assistant for Kelly Ricklic, none of which were approved. Ricklic also told the Committee that the Water Department was seeking a consultant to estimate how much un-metered water was being used by city buildings in an effort to determine the cost without the necessity of purchasing water meters.
The Cemetery is considering a renovation to their building because of concerns in compliance with the Disabilities Act. Mr. Limbacher, Cemetery Supervisor, stated the building is not accessible to visitors in wheelchairs. Restrooms are out of date and the front porch needs repair. No request for funding of these projects was requested at this time.
One new computer was approved for the City Treasurer.
Balancing the budget is complicated by wage and benefit costs. Those are set by contract and cannot be changed. When the percentage of department wages to budgets is compared, the complexity of budgeting becomes clearer. For instance, of the total budget for the Fire Department, 96% goes to wages and benefits. In the Police Department, 90%; City Prosecutor, 93%: Cemetery, 87%, City Auditor, 82%; Street Department, 69%.
On the whole the Mayor presented a budget which was trimmed to what appears to be the minimum which is consistent with City income. An increase in City revenue would ease the financial situation, but this is an uncertainty and evidently the Administration recognizes this, as does the Finance Committee.
The reason for the meeting was to go over the 2010 City budget. This occurs once a year and sets spending for that year. The process is simple. The Committee receives the budget recommendation from the Mayor, then compares the requested expenses to the anticipated income. If expenditures exceed anticipated income, the budget has to be reworked to prevent going into a deficit.
This year the budget brought before the Committee was trimmed to the bone by the Mayor and for just cause. The carryover for 2009, money which is carried over from the previous year to run the city for the first three months of the new year, amounted to $1.5 million. The estimated carryover for 2011 is only $200,000, the economy being the villain. It’s another case of the dreaded “R” word, recession. Income is down although fixed expenses are up.
In no special order, here are some of the highlights:
The Fire Department has had problems with the floor at the fire station. It has sagged recently in recent years and needs to be propped up. Chief Parrish also considers the floor to be a hazard because over the years it has become slick and a number of firefighters have taken some spills. Budgeted: $24,000 to remedy the situation.
The Police Department had few requests for equipment. Their major concern was the purchase of new computers for two police cars and a new video recorder for one of the cars. Budgeted: $18,000. Also budgeted was $14,000 for portable radios and miscellaneous items.
The Sanitation Department received $25,000 for repairs to their garage. This is a priority item because of age and lack of maintenance over the years. The water pipes leak, the roof leaks, the walls leak, and the floor drains don’t drain. The heating is insufficient. The alternative is a new building, at $1.2 million, and the budget can’t afford it.
The Recycling operation needs a new truck. In this case the adage that no good deed goes unpunished, strikes home here. Fred Neff told the committee, that to cut down on expenses, the recycling route schedules were revised to reduce the work week to four days producing an approximate 20% savings. The Stark Tuscarawas Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District has funds available to provide a truck to the City, free of charge, but New Philadelphia isn’t qualified. The reason? We don’t collect recycling five days a week. So as Fred Neff explained it, if we go to five days a week, increase expenses, we might get the gift of a new truck. Neff has appealed this decision but has yet to receive an answer from the Solid Waste District. As a backup plan, Neff requested, and received budget money to buy a used truck for sanitation use not to exceed $18,000.
A used truck was budgeted for the Sewer Department, price not to exceed $12,000. The truck it will replace is held together by rust, has a rusted bed, and a shot transmission. Money was appropriated to replace the cover on one of the holding tanks, a “request” made by the EPA.
The advisability of purchasing used trucks versus new was discussed. The Mayor told the Committee that with proper inspection before purchase, used trucks have held up well in the past. Proper maintenance is essential once purchased. The savings are substantial and decrease in city income makes such decisions reasonable.
An interesting innovation may be coming soon to the Sidewalk Replacement Program. For the past couple of years the program has not been fully utilized. If you are not familiar with the program, the City will pay half the cost of residents replacing their sidewalk provided certain requirements are followed, like filling out the paperwork and submitting it to the Service Director’s office. The Sidewalk budget for this year is $20,000. Ten thousand dollars was unused last year and remains in the fund. A couple of alternatives were suggested for the use of that money. One was to use some of the money, on a fifty-fifty basis, to replace curbing for homeowners. The other was to change the usage limitation from replacing sidewalks to constructing new sidewalks where none presently exist. Note that these are possible alternatives, not done deals. That may take a while.
The Water Department came with a shopping list which included two trucks, a trencher/backhoe, and an assistant for Kelly Ricklic, none of which were approved. Ricklic also told the Committee that the Water Department was seeking a consultant to estimate how much un-metered water was being used by city buildings in an effort to determine the cost without the necessity of purchasing water meters.
The Cemetery is considering a renovation to their building because of concerns in compliance with the Disabilities Act. Mr. Limbacher, Cemetery Supervisor, stated the building is not accessible to visitors in wheelchairs. Restrooms are out of date and the front porch needs repair. No request for funding of these projects was requested at this time.
One new computer was approved for the City Treasurer.
Balancing the budget is complicated by wage and benefit costs. Those are set by contract and cannot be changed. When the percentage of department wages to budgets is compared, the complexity of budgeting becomes clearer. For instance, of the total budget for the Fire Department, 96% goes to wages and benefits. In the Police Department, 90%; City Prosecutor, 93%: Cemetery, 87%, City Auditor, 82%; Street Department, 69%.
On the whole the Mayor presented a budget which was trimmed to what appears to be the minimum which is consistent with City income. An increase in City revenue would ease the financial situation, but this is an uncertainty and evidently the Administration recognizes this, as does the Finance Committee.
No comments:
Post a Comment