City budget proposed

Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer

May 14, 2008 08:24 am

— A first draft of the city’s 2008-09 fiscal year budget of $23,834,080 was revealed Tuesday by Richmond City Manager David Evans, who said the amount was about an 8-percent increase.
The estimated revenue for the fiscal year includes: property taxes, $2 million; licenses and permits (which includes payroll, net profit, regulated license, insurance, alcoholic beverage, vending machine, penalty and interest, building permits, utility franchise and hotel/motel taxes), $16,635,000; fines and forfeitures (includes disturbance fines, parking fines and other city-issued fines), $96,000; uses of funds (includes interest on investments and facility rental), $420,000; charges for current services (includes parking meters, electrical and mechanical inspections, plat review and approval, zone change and plan review, summons fee, accident reports, golf course revenue, parks and recreation revenue, after-school program and recycling income),$1,690,500; sale of surplus property, $30,000; and other (includes Adventure Falls, law enforcement fees, GIS, tourism revenue, police/fire retirement, payment of contingent services, payment in lieu of taxes, revenue from Paradise Cove at Gibson Bay, miscellaneous reimbursements, county allocation to parks, county reimbursement for recycling, E-911 surcharge, grants and utility investment return), $2,962,580.
The city’s newest form of revenue would be Paradise Cove at Gibson Bay, the city’s new family aquatic center set to open Memorial Day, could bring in as much as $500,000, Evans said.
Other funds administered by a state governing agency include: the Municipal Aid Program, $268,000; police incentive, $217,000; fire incentive, $251,000; economic development, $200,000; Drug Enforcement Agency, $50,000; litter abatement, $16,500; emergency shelter (divided between the Salvation Army and Liberty Place Homeless Shelter) $60,000; Community Development Block Grants, $2.9 million; and Focus Housing, $680,000
The budget’s estimated expenditures also total $23,834,080 and include: personnel services (includes salary, insurance, retirement, health care, etc.) $15,613,406; contractual services (work being done for the city by independent contractors) $2,913,850; materials and supplies, $1,858,550; miscellaneous expenses, $3,231,274; and capital outlay, $217,000.
Last year’s revenue and expenditures was estimated at $21,354,580.
Most of the city’s money in the proposed budget is going toward the police and fire departments, which will be receiving $5,028,925 and $3,788,904, respectively.
The two departments also received the most funding in the 2007-2008 fiscal year budget that allotted $4,624,197 for police and $3,226,034 for the fire department.
A copy of the complete budget, which includes a breakdown of departmental expenses and bond payments, can be obtained at an upcoming workshop meeting or by calling Richmond City Hall at 623-1000.
A budget workshop has been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, May 20, but a time has yet to be determined.
This meeting would be open for public input, Evans said.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.