Iola City Council members took their first in-depth look at the city’s 2013 spending plan Wednesday.
Council members heard from seven department heads during a three-hour budget session — another was planned for this afternoon — in order for the 2013 budget to be approved in August.
Council members rescheduled a budget hearing for 6 p.m. Aug. 6. The hearing originally was scheduled for next week but was pushed back when it became evident city planners would not be able to publish the proposed budget at least 10 days in advance.
City Administrator Carl Slaugh said the plan is to develop a budget “very close in dollars” to what the city is spending this year.
Proposals for general fund expenditures are at $4,520.929, an increase of about 2.4 percent over this year, Slaugh noted. He hopes to maintain an ad valorem tax levy for the city at about 37 mills.
Transfers from utility funds, which has been the city’s practice for years in order to supplement the general fund, comprised about 34 percent of the general fund in 2011.
Another source of revenue — sales taxes — looks encouraging, Slaugh said, with collections coming in 1.3 percent above what was collected in 2011. Sales tax collections in 2011 were about 4 percent higher than in 2010.
The 2013 budget will include a few changes in how the budget is put together, Slaugh said.
Starting next year, equipment reserve funds, used by specific departments, will be more closely defined, Slaugh said, to prevent one department from being raided for other departmental purchases. Street and Alley Superintendent Dan Leslie noted he set aside $134,000 for equipment purchases, only to have the city use it to make a fire truck purchase. Leslie told council members that if the money is not replaced, he will have to defer equipment purchases, some for years into the future.
In addition, the city established a stormwater fund so that expenditures can be tracked more closely. In previous years, those funds had been a part of the general fund.
AMONG THE specific department budget proposals:
— Slaugh is seeking a $40,000 increase in budget authority to fund salaries for Iola’s fire and ambulance departments. He also plans to shift payroll costs from the ambulance budget to the fire department’s.
Revenues have fallen short of the city’s hopes over the past two years, Slaugh said.
Ron Conaway, Iola Emergency Medical Service director, clarified Slaugh’s assessment.
“The ambulance fund is self-sufficient, but not to the level to support the salaries they put in the budget,” Conaway said.
