The City of Centerville gave a “first look” of its 2009 budget to council members and those in attendance at its meeting Tuesday. Expenses in the budget total $7,451,104, while revenue comes out to $6,850,315.
“It is balanced,” said City Administrator Patrick Eidson – it actually takes that a step further and ends up with a surplus – based on several things. The first is “actual” (at first he said “anticipated” but then changed that) proceeds from the Century Oaks sewer project. “Seven-hundred and eighty-eight thousand, nine-hundred and fourteen dollars,” he said, in regard to the amount. “We’re also going to use a prior year fund balance of $145,988. And also we will have a contingency fund in line items in both the general fund and the water and sewer fund.”
The general fund, he said, was $111,769 and water and sewer were $222,344.
“The city will be anticipating a fund balance, an unallocated fund balance of $1.5 million at the end of the fiscal year,” he said, adding that the budget had been prepared using the city’s current millage rate of 10.698 (signaling no increase or decrease). “This is our rainy day fund. This is when the tornado comes and hits city hall or police department fund and we’ve got to replace equipment, et cetera.
“It’s good we have it. It shows the city is being fiscally responsible with all of its assets.”
As far as a breakdown, $2,258,196 of the revenue will come from the Water and Sewer fund. The biggest chunk in the General Fund is taxes. The total for it is $3,326,719. Eighty-one percent – $2,694,753 – of that is for taxes, Eidson said. And of the 81 percent, he explained, $1,771,353, or 65.7 percent, is generated by real property taxes. Another $340,000 is for franchise taxes, $165,000 for motor vehicle taxes, $243,000 for insurance premium taxes, $70,000 for alcohol beverage taxes, $75,000 for real estate intangible taxes, $19,400 for mobile home taxes and $11,000 for penalties due for delinquent taxes.
Over on the expenditure side in the General Fund, the biggest portion of it goes toward the categories “Police” and “Fire”, although Eidson said more than half goes toward salaries and wages overall and another 22 percent, he said, go toward benefits.
In regard to police, however, $1,658,124 is allocated, while in fire that number is $949,338.
Said Centerville Mayor Bubba Edwards, “I can over the course of the budgets (see where) we get a little more fine-tuned (each time). Thank you Mr. Eidson for that. And thanks to the department heads who sat down and justified these.” (Note: The council members were provided three documents. One, explained Edison, was an 18-page summary of each expense in every category, along with justification. Another, 52 pages in length, outlined the operating expenses for 2008 and for 2009 so that they could compare the two. And a third was the summary. Anyone interested, Edwards said, can pick up a summary of the budget for review – it is slated to be adopted at the June 17 meeting – at the city clerk’s office at City Hall.)
“The sources of our budget is you the people,” Edwards said. “We’re answering to you the people as far as being good stewards of that taxpayers money that you entrust to us to manage.
And I just want to thank you (again) Mr. Eidson and the committee for once again really taking a hard look at that. And making sure we’re not just spending money for money’s sake.
“And we have little left over. It’s nice to have that in case we have to use it.” Other agenda items the council addressed/approved/reported on were: - To grant a home business license to Hugh Gary Crook for All Around Appraisals, a real estate appraisal business
- Appointed, for the first time ever – “in our known history,” Edwards said – a city chaplain. It is Dr. M. Allen Hughes of First Baptist Church in Centerville
- Edwards said the city had narrowed the list for the Police Chief position (to replace interim Willie Talton) down to a group of finalists. He said the Police Chief committee would be conducting teleconferences Thursday and Friday. From there, he said, they would narrow the field down even more, then conduct “in-person” interviews before presenting its recommendation to the council
