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<br />2000 Budget <br />July 21, 1999 <br />Pa!!e 8 <br /> <br />. Also on 7/26, staff plans to present some examples of tax rate changes based <br />on this budget proposal and various net tax capacity growth scenarios. <br /> <br />Later in this memo, and during the 7/26 meeting when the budget gap is <br />reviewed, a discussion is anticipated to take place regarding developing gas <br />utility franchise fees as another revenue source. I currently am awaiting <br />information from Reliant Energy on gross sales and the number/type of <br />meters in the community in order to determine what franchise fee, if any, is <br />reasonable. If a franchise fee is pursued, the City Council will need to decide <br />how to use these funds. The three main possibilities appear to be: 1.) adding <br />the revenue to the general fund in order to keep taxes low; 2.) funding <br />equipment capital outlay items in order to reduce our dependence on the <br />equipment certificates (which is a tax levy item); and 3.) adding monies to the <br />economic development fund to promote business/industrial growth, which in <br />turn will increase franchise revenues. <br /> <br />EXPENDITURES <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The expenditure worksheets for each department are scheduled to be handed <br />out to the City Council at the 7/26/99 worksession. Some of the budget <br />departments will have more than one program budget, for example: the <br />Mayor and City Council budget has two "programs", one for cable TV and one <br />for general activity. <br /> <br />At this time, it appears that the expenditure requests amount to <br />approximately $5,910,700. This is a $547,250 or 10.2 percent increase. <br />These figures are preliminary and will change by the time we get to Monday <br />evening's council meeting. Hopefully they will change by way of a lower <br />projection versus changing to request additional expenditures. <br /> <br />As previously noted, the City Council can exercise its greatest control over <br />the budget when it deals with personnel issues. Included in the 2000 <br />projections are the following staff additions: <br /> <br />. Mayor and Council... an additional approximately 10 hours per <br />week for cable TV, which mainly will go for an assistantlbackup in <br />case Marissa is not available. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. Building/Zoning...a full time seasonal (7 months) building <br />inspector. This employee was hired in 1999, but funding for the <br />position was in the city council contingency fund. Accordingly, this <br />staff addition shows up as additional expenses for personnel <br />services in the 2000 budget. <br /> <br />. Government buildings...a full time janitorial/cleaning employee is <br />requested to back up Sue when she is unavailable, and also to help <br />