Weekend Open Thread Topic… Budget Crunching
The proposed FY 2012 Budget is available here.
FY2012 – FY2016 General Fund Budget Goals
- Attain the General Fund Reserve at 25% of Expenditures to provide the City with an adequate “Rainy Day” fund to be used in the event of unforeseen circumstances, with the balance available for capital purposes.
- Maintain a positive Water Fund Balance and a Reserve of at least 25% of Expenditures
- Eliminate the Deficit in the Airport Fund and Attain a Fund Reserve at 25% of Expenditures
- Eliminate Deficit in both the Workers Compensation Fund & Property/Liability Fund and Begin Establishing Minimum Reserve of $1 Million collectively to both address the Fund’s current state and to protect the City against future claims.
- Transfer Funds from TIF for Downtown Engineering Work done in-house to properly reimburse the General Fund for engineering costs incurred that would otherwise been contracted out to an outside firm.
- Establish a Fleet Replacement Fund & Equipment Fund Create a chargeback system to provide adequate funding for City vehicles and equipment needs.
All ideas and commentary welcome and appreciated.
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4 Comments
Herb, the failure to address the realities of the here and now for several years has already put a good future in jeopardy. Our situation is worsening; you can’t see this?
Lynn,
There are some of us who believe that while handling the here and now is important, if we don’t take steps to better the community’s future, the community will have none.
Herb
Should we be talking about reserves of $7-8 million when our fund balance in March was $22,000 and we are still short first responders? Should we be giving TIF money to the Egyptian while leaving the police department in dire straits? Has that water tower been painted yet? How deep in the hole is the health “insurance” program? How much will the drop in NIU enrollments hurt us?
These are fine long-term goals for a city in recovery, but DeKalb is not yet that city. For example, I’ve just been looking at District 428 numbers and have found that the percentage of low income students has risen from 31% to 45% in the past five years.
And overall, revenues are still mostly flat.
We should be looking at a survival budget for the next 3-5 years. That means protection of public safety services and protection against liability. Of course, that’s what I’ve been saying in the budget hearings since 2008. Should I bother repeating myself once again?
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CLICK HERE for agendas and back up material for next weeks special meetings on the FY12 City of DeKalb budget.