BRAWLEY — Following a presentation that highlighted a 5 percent spending reduction, the City Council unanimously adopted a budget plan Tuesday that significantly trims the reliance on general fund reserves to bridge a shortfall of more than $226,000.
That was the amount City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore told the council was needed from the reserve fund to balance estimated expenditures of more than $13.3 million in fiscal 2012-2013 with revenues of about $13.1 million.
The council also adopted the 2012-2013 budget for Brawley’s enterprise fund, which oversees spending for the airport, streets and other areas. Exclusions from the enterprise fund will be addressed in more detail at another meeting.
Cutting back on reserve spending was a major goal Moore sought. The more than $226,000 that will be used from the fund is a significant reduction compared to the $1 million that was spent in 2010-2011 and the $1.14 million used from the city’s reserves in 2011-2012, records show.
The revenues for next year’s budget represents an increase of more than $317,000 over last year’s budget plan, Moore said. This resulted from changes in dispatching service rates charged to Calipatria and Westmorland.
The rate changes were implemented over a three-year agreement that was entered in 2011-2012, Moore said.
The elimination of redevelopment agencies throughout California has provided a key change to Brawley’s revenue outlook as four RDA-funded positions resulted in them being laid off in March.
Passage of the 4 percent utility users’ tax in November, which extends the tax to five years, represents about 22.8 percent of the general fund or a near $2 million revenue source, officials said.
A series of staffing changes were proposed in the 2012-2013 budget that involved freezing vacant positions in light of how compensation “comprises more than 80 percent of the general fund,” Moore said.
A temporary records clerk and a part-time dispatcher at the Brawley Police Department were laid off and a senior citizens coordinator at the Parks and Recreation Department was laid off as well, she said.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget revision, which came after it was learned that the state’s deficit jumped to about $16 billion from $9 billion, was referenced during the meeting.
“It tells me they didn’t cut spending,” councilman Don Campbell said.
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That was the amount City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore told the council was needed from the reserve fund to balance estimated expenditures of more than $13.3 million in fiscal 2012-2013 with revenues of about $13.1 million.
The council also adopted the 2012-2013 budget for Brawley’s enterprise fund, which oversees spending for the airport, streets and other areas. Exclusions from the enterprise fund will be addressed in more detail at another meeting.
Cutting back on reserve spending was a major goal Moore sought. The more than $226,000 that will be used from the fund is a significant reduction compared to the $1 million that was spent in 2010-2011 and the $1.14 million used from the city’s reserves in 2011-2012, records show.
The revenues for next year’s budget represents an increase of more than $317,000 over last year’s budget plan, Moore said. This resulted from changes in dispatching service rates charged to Calipatria and Westmorland.
The rate changes were implemented over a three-year agreement that was entered in 2011-2012, Moore said.
The elimination of redevelopment agencies throughout California has provided a key change to Brawley’s revenue outlook as four RDA-funded positions resulted in them being laid off in March.
Passage of the 4 percent utility users’ tax in November, which extends the tax to five years, represents about 22.8 percent of the general fund or a near $2 million revenue source, officials said.
A series of staffing changes were proposed in the 2012-2013 budget that involved freezing vacant positions in light of how compensation “comprises more than 80 percent of the general fund,” Moore said.
A temporary records clerk and a part-time dispatcher at the Brawley Police Department were laid off and a senior citizens coordinator at the Parks and Recreation Department was laid off as well, she said.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget revision, which came after it was learned that the state’s deficit jumped to about $16 billion from $9 billion, was referenced during the meeting.
“It tells me they didn’t cut spending,” councilman Don Campbell said.
To join this discussion and add comments to this story, please click here to be directed to Facebook.
