Part Four of a series on the Columbia city
budget
COLUMBIA, 8/30/10 (Beat Byte) -- Good
news is tucked away in Columbia government's 2010-11 budget after all. "The
City's General Fund Balance [which pays for basic city services like fire and
police] is projected to be 23% at 2011 year end, well above the
16% policy requirement," the budget says on pg. 46, under Revenue Summaries.
What's more, over a dozen revenue sources
will rise in the coming year, including sales taxes (up 1%);
property taxes (up 2%); so-called "payments in lieu of tax" (up
4%); utility bills (up 6%); construction fees (up 6.5%); and municipal court
fines (up 34%).
City Manager Bill Watkins admitted to the sizeable savings
account for the first time. "By using the surplus built during boom
years, Watkins said last week, the city can maintain services such as
fire, police, public health and public works," the Columbia Daily
Tribune reported. So large are these surpluses that the Trib reported,
"Columbia’s municipal government lives off of its savings."
"Surplus" built during the boom years? "Living off its
savings?" Quite a turn of rhetoric.
One of 27 City Funds that hold a combined $482 million,
the General Fund has the city's longest neck, always getting
chopped. To save it, unpaid volunteer City Council members are proposing
to give up half their $15,000 annual allowance for food they consume during
meetings. Council members are also stepping up to give up most of their
reserve and contingency funds -- roughly $175,000. Those funds have helped
social service projects with no place else to turn.
No mention yet what paid senior city
administrators with 6-figure salaries plan to sacrifice for our
struggling city budget, which Mr. Watkins calls "a real bugger."
RELATED:
TIGHT BUDGETS FROM YEARS PAST
2007: For Watkins, the first priority in
the year’s tight budget is the city workforce...lagging sales tax growth has
made budgeting a struggle. ...the city will have to dip into reserves to make
the budget work, Watkins said.
2008: Although in recent years City
Manager Bill Watkins has referred to Columbia's budget as "tight," he used a new
word for fiscal year 2009 -- "squeaky."
2009: The budget process has been
particularly difficult this year as the city faced a projected 2.9 percent drop
in revenue. In crafting the 2010 budget proposal, City Manager Bill Watkins
faced the task of finding $2 million in savings. Watkins requested cuts in
spending across most city departments, but two areas in particular garnered the
most discussion Monday night: changes to employee benefits and cuts in social
services funding.
Thanks Mike for posting "The Rest Of The Story".
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