City Commission Recap 4-26-11

I attended the Special Workshop/Meeting of the City Commission last night! Here is a recap of what transpired.

Financially, the City is doing better than other cities. However, the future is not all that bright. If all factors affecting the City’s finances remain constant, the City will be facing an estimated $300,000+ shortfall at the end of the fiscal year.

Two factors to definitely impact the City are the rising fuel/gasoline costs and reduced sales tax revenues. Sales Tax receipts fluctuate every month and ninety percent (90%) of the property taxes have already been collected.

The City Manager noted that all City Departments are being instructed to reduce their expenses by 7%. This goal I personally believe is going to be difficult to accomplish. Some departments are already operating at the bare bones.

There was talk about dipping into the Cash Reserves. Dipping into the cash reserves is nothing new, however, that should be a “last resort” option. Cash Reserves is the cash the City is required by financial obligations to have on hand to meet those obligations. These requirements vary from city to city.

What caught my eye is the [over budget] amount ($37,000) for the Chapter 380 Economic Development Program. I need to get more clarification on this before making any comments.

The other topic that caught my ear was the amount in revenue being waived by the city towards the non-profits (mainly religious organizations). Year to date (YTD) , the City Commission has waived about $25,000 in fees. Maybe, the City should considered asking this non-profits to at least pay some portion of the fees.

The Water and Wastewater fund is also not all that bright! They are both projected to be below budget projections. With the drought we are experiencing, hopefully there will be more consumer water usage. We definitely need to protect our foundations on our homes from cracking.

That is it and help out the city by watering your lawn early in the morning or late at night!