Budget Down 3%, Includes Staff Cuts

The city will begin the new fiscal year July 1 with a smaller budget and some important changes at City Hall.

City Council members this week unanimously approved a general fund budget of $50.5 million, down nearly 3% from last year’s.

Residents do not face increases in fees or taxes. And starting in September, the civic center will be open every other Friday. For five years it has been closed Fridays because of reduced employee hours.

The package also includes a $1-million renovation for the main library, which will be closed from January through June for the make-over.

In years past, managers have submitted budgets that just met the June 30 deadline. But City Manager David L. Rudat said those days are over.

For the second year in a row, the budget was packaged and presented as part of a three-year restructuring program that will provide a more detailed document among other changes in city government, he said.

Said Councilman Mike Spurgeon: “This is my seventh budget and it is the best budget as far as professionalism and as far as making it easy for residents to understand.”

Rudat said the restructuring includes eliminating some positions in City Hall as they become vacant. “We are truly trying to do more with what resources we have,” he said.

More contractors and part-time and seasonal workers will pick up the work that used to be done by full-time employees.

Other factors helped bring down spending, including the end of some major legal cases, no election costs and the completion of some large planning projects, Rudat said.

Sales tax collections, the city’s largest revenue source, is projected to increase by nearly 3% because of the opening of a Wal-Mart and a 25-screen theater, according to the report.