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| City officials find ways to balance upcoming budget |
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| News - Spring Hill | |||
| Wednesday, 28 July 2010 08:00 | |||
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After looking at deficits in the general and debt service funds, Spring Hill officials came up with ways to stay out of the red. On Thursday, City Finance Director Melanie Landis presented the 2011 budget to Mayor Mark Squire and other Spring Hill City Council members. During a previous work session, a general fund negative balance of $38,716 was presented. With a $200,000 excise tax transfer and $154,000 transferred to the debt service fund, the ending balance is projected to be $7,284. “It’s not the only idea we came up with, but it’s one of the better ideas that put us in a better position for upcoming years,” Landis said. “It’s just not a fix for this year, but it will put us in a better position for upcoming years.” The debt service fund showed a negative balance of more than $14,291, but with the transfer from the general fund, the adjusted balance came to $139,709. Council Member Chris Leaton voiced a concern about the excise tax transfer, which is used for improvements in the capital improvement plan. He worried about funding not being available. Squire, meanwhile, said he agreed with a few of the points Leaton made about the transfer. “I see it as, what’s the lesser of two evils?” Squire said about other options. “Using this type of transfer, which is probably not the greatest idea, cutting some things that we can’t live without or raising property taxes.” City Administrator Jonathan Roberts said excise tax funds are not collected from residents, but from fees for developers. He said the transfer allows the city to make sure reductions are as transparent as possible. Landis said the transfer does not put the city in a position of being flush with cash. “All it does is get us to a point where we can start fresh,” she said. “Next year’s budget is still going to be slim. We’re trying to put ourself in a position where we don’t create such a large need for additional property taxes in the 2012 budget as well.” The city’s assessed valuation shows a decrease of 1.6 percent ($913,127). Landis said the city lost more than $35,000 in property-tax revenue. The proposed levy for 2011 is 39.222 mills, an increase from 39.618 in 2010. Total expenditures for 2011 come to $6,162,823. Several reductions were made for outside agency requests. Cuts were made to the Fall Festival fund, Green Board and Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Squire said he disliked the idea of reducing the chamber’s budget from $10,000 to $7,000. Roberts said he had a discussion with chamber officials, who said they were comfortable with the decrease. The council and city administrators also discussed sales-tax revenue projections and the impact on the budget. In other business last week, the council: Discussed with city attorney Frank Jenkins the coming ballot issue on the Old Schoolhouse. Squire said the issue is going to be difficult for voters. “What’s not understood by this is that there is still a substantial amount of money to be spent if they don’t do the repairs or have to demo,” Jenkins said. Leaton said it’s up to the council to step up and educate the public about the issue. Approved an ordinance authorizing an amendment with a city loan from the state acting through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for the purpose of funding a wastewater treatment plant. Approved a resolution to consolidate existing development fees and to establish failed inspection fees for nuisance abatement activities at City Hall. Heard from state Rep. Mike Kiegerl, who discussed Kansas’ revenue shortfall and other issues affecting residents, including unemployment. He also talked about the importance of funding education and other initiatives. Kiegerl said the state could save about $300 million per year by consolidating more school districts.
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