The Official Unofficial Board of Alderman Meeting Notes
More detailed information as presented at the Tuesday night BOA meeting by Mayor Jerry Bos.
Mayor Bos took the opportunity to give an update on the 2008 budget based on the Revenue and Expense Report generated by the City accounting software (Incode). FYI...the 2008 budget was crafted and passed late last fall by the Board (Roberts,White,Hoy,Finn) and Mayor (York).
The good news is the City is projected to have a surplus of over $200,000 at the finish of 2008, barring unforeseen events. The major contributor to the surplus is a windfall in the telephone franchise fees per State of MO legislation. Not all of the fees that are a part of the windfall have been collected due to legal challenges. A few revenue categories are forecasted to fall short of budget, Building Fees -$25,000 and Interest -$14,000. Storage Lot rental could be as much as -$35,000 depending on rental renewals due in September.
Although budgeted, Jerry proposes to withhold City Hall repairs $30,000 and repairs/upgrades to the Maintenance Shop $40,000.
You might be curious on the expense to revenue forecast for the Community Center. The revenue was increased $1,000 for a total revenue of $17,000 for the year. Expenditures were increased by $6,000 to $36,000.
Jerry discussed the potential uses of the budget surplus. He sees the need to improve reserves while addressing needs in the City. No specific recommendations were made, I assume this will be part of the budget discussions for 2009.
My view is this...we could be worse off for sure, but the windfall this year won't happen again next year. We have two sources of revenue basically for the general fund, property taxes and franchise fees. I think 2009, and beyond, will be challenging to balance the budget, rebuild reserves and deliver the services we have all come to expect.
Next Up: Talkin Trash
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