But some of those groups will have to wait and see if tax revenue projections are realized before getting the check.
The council added $10,000 to the $80,000 budget for the Pratt Museum and added $10,000 to the $40,000 Homer Foundation budget. Area nonprofits apply for grants through the Homer Foundation and many use that money to leverage of state and federal funds.
The city will wait until tax revenues are calculated after the end of the first quarter in 2007, however, to see if it can afford the extra outlay to the foundation and Pratt Museum.
Another winner of the budget process was the Homer Public Library, which will get funding for two new employees — one full-time and one part-time — for the larger, more used facility. These new hires were included in the initial proposed budget by the city administration, but there was an amendment raised Monday by council member Mike Heimbuch that would have put a halt on all new hires except those for the water and sewer department from the 2007 budget until after the first quarter revenues were calculated.
The amendment was drafted by council member Beth Wythe, but it was determined at the beginning of deliberations that she could not vote on matters relating to city employees since her husband, John, works for the city. Since she was unable to second the amendment or vote, and no other council members seconded the amendment, it failed to reach the floor.
Wythe said Tuesday that she would have brought it to the floor for a vote herself if she would have been able to do so. Heimbuch said Tuesday he thought council member Matt Shadle — who was participating telephonically Monday — was going to second it, but Shadle said he decided against it.
“I think that’s it important to support city infrastructure. I just think this is the best for the people,” Shadle said from his Christmas tree business in Oregon Tuesday.
Wythe also could not vote on raising the cost of living allowance for city employees from 2 percent to 3 percent, but that amendment passed without objection.
Other additions to the budget Monday included $1,000 for a Parks Day celebration, $2,500 for methamphetamine education and $3,000 for a survey of 40 acres of BLM land on Skyline Drive the city has been looking at purchasing for about a year. The city has been looking at the property as a potential site for a new firehall.
These additions came at the expense of a projected budget surplus of just over $140,000. One of the goals of the council was to increase the general fund balance this year. This balance currently stands at more than $2 million, but auditors this year made the recommendation that the council should try to increase this balance to cover six months worth of the city’s operating budget, or $4 - $5 million in case of emergency.
Having a larger fund balance also saves the city in interest payments if it has to make big purchases because it has the money on hand instead of having to borrow it.
Without larger than expected tax revenues or help from the state in the form of state retirement funding increases or revenue sharing, the 2007 budget will likely not add money to the general fund balance.
With the city gathering much of its revenue from sales tax revenue, any downturn in tourism could have dramatic effects on the budget, said council member Heimbuch.
“I have some heartburn that we spent every dime we had,” he said.
One way the city helped pay for increased services was to raise water and sewer rates slightly and shift the burden somewhat as to who pays the bill.
The increased rates will help pay for new employees needed to maintain an ever-growing system. The plan will cost the average city resident $3.23 per month for water and sewer.
The council also approved an amendment that raised the turn on/turn off fee for water service $30 to $75, and the city will now continue billing service charges when service is turned off by seasonal residents.
All of these changes to the budget on the expenditure side came after the council approved lower sales tax growth projections and higher property tax growth projections.
The changes had a net effect of decreasing the revenue side of the budget by $125,445.
The great unknown in the budget process this year was whether the state will help out with PERS/TRS debt funding or revenue sharing this year as some state lawmakers have promised.
Last week, District 35 Rep. Paul Seaton R-Homer, testified that the Legislature is looking at a $50-million revenue sharing package that would help the state’s municipalities.
The Legislature also is looking at ways to pay the PERS/TRS debt, but Seaton warned that it is currently looking at only a partial payment, not taking over the debt entirely at this point.
The city must now wait and see if its own revenue projections are accurate, and see if it can deliver some of the budget increases that it approved on Monday.
Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart@homer news.com.
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