By REID TUCKER
The DeFuniak Springs City Council and administrative staff went over the proposed Fiscal Year 2016 budget one last time at the board’s Aug. 25 workshop, arriving at the finalized version of the budget.
Unlike last year, the city will have to dig into reserves to balance the FY2016 budget. The budget summary sheet provided to the Council by city staff shows a grand total general fund revenue of $8,382,100 and a grand total of $10,562,830 in the general fund expenditures column. The grand total revenue figure includes a $1,062,420 transfer from the utility service tax, and the expenditures list includes a transfer out to the sanitation fund in the form of the 1-cent sales tax – all told it comes out to $1,535,960. The Council members discussed reducing discretionary sales tax transfers by a little more than $1.5 million, which was also reduced from the general fund revenues.
Other subsections of the budget look to fare better, as the proposed water fund budget (buoyed by the recent passage of higher water bill service rates) has a projected grand total revenue of $2,813,150 compared to $2,157,780 in expenditures. The sewer fund is just slightly in the red at $2,336,880 in revenue and $2,356,240 in expenses, while the natural gas fund shows revenues of $1,537,900, a good deal over the $1,321,330 projected for expenses.
The projected operating budget figures are similarly to the good – the budget summary shows $1,345,150 in revenues over expenditures. This is due to substantial positive differences of more than $1 million in the water system operating fund and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the areas of sanitation, natural gas and sewer.
Some purchases like an anode bed for the city’s natural gas system or sewer system repairs will make use of the appropriate fund’s reserves, which are intended for capital replacement projects. The city will make use of the local option gas tax to purchase a new paver for Public Works’ Streets Department use. However, other big ticket items like the purchase of police cars, Public Works-use vehicles and equipment, which totals out at $4,57,500 will have to be financed, involving a total loan payment estimate of $101,160 in new debt services as a result of these purchases.
The proposed FY2016 budget only projects for the use of reserves, but not contributing to reserves. Various utilities rates will have to increase over the next several years if the city is to continue to have the necessary reserves funds to pay for replacement of depreciating capital assets like equipment and vehicles and to cover repairs.
Another update in the final workshop was that employee salaries can be increased 1 percentage point, moving from 2 percent to 3 percent for FY2016, as a result of an over-estimation of insurance premiums and reimbursements. After the city received an official quote from its insurance provider, it turns out that a net total of $67,310 can be put back into budget to cover the $51,140 in increased compensation (including benefits) for city employees.
The Council will convene in a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 to hold public hearing on the proposed budget and millage rate before voting for approval.