|
|
| Pitkin County facing budget shortfall |
| By aspendailynews.com |
| Published: 05/18/2009 |
|
by Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer Pitkin County commissioners will be told Tuesday that the county may need to use $668,000 from its $4.1 million “undesignated fund balance” to make up a likely budget gap as a result of lower tax revenues and fees this year. The county’s 2009 general fund budget is $23 million. “The largest drops in revenue are in sales tax and community development fees,” states a staff memo prepared for Tuesday’s work session. Key senior staff members have developed three financial scenarios for county commissioners to consider this week. The best case would leave the county with a budget deficit of $212,000, the mid-range projection puts the county $668,000 off its 2009 budget and the worst case scenario leaves the county $1.1 million to the bad. The worse cast scenario assumes a 20 percent drop in sales tax for the year, combined with a 45 percent drop in community development fees. So far this year, that’s pretty consistent with reality. Sales taxes in Pitkin County are down 19.9 percent through March and county staffers estimate they will be down 15 percent for the year. In the community development department, which processes land use application and building permit applications, staff expects fees to be off 40 percent for the year. Through April, planning fees were down 31 percent and building inspection fees were off 32 percent. At the end of April, there were 91 building permits of all types issued by the county worth a total of $6.6 million. Contrast that to the first four months of 2006, when there were 167 permits issued worth $31 million, or 2007, when there were 118 permits issued through April worth $14.5 million. Other county departments are also seeing lower fees. Fees at the county clerk’s office that are charged for recording real estate transactions are down 30 percent through April, which is on top of a 46 percent decline in 2008. Fees throughout the entire clerk’s office are off 13 percent and have put the office $130,000 off budget. Pitkin County Manager Hilary Fletcher, County Treasurer Tom Oken and County Finance Director John Redmond are recommending the commissioners make up the budget shortfall from the county’s “undesignated fund balance.” And they suggest that rather than cut services this year, it makes more sense to “focus on the 2010 budget process to make strategic, ongoing expenditure adjustments to the reduction in revenue.” That is consistent with direction given to staff by the commissioners at a retreat in February that focused on the county’s likely financial position. The county has an estimated $4.1 million in its general fund reserve account. It has another $4 million tucked away in a contingency account and another $5.2 million saved up to improve county facilities. “This represents a total General Fund balance of $13.3 million available at the discretion of the board,” the staff memo states. That’s not to say, however, that the county isn’t working this year to cut costs. The county hopes to save $142,000 this year by not filling the open positions of natural resource specialist and administrative assistant positions in the county’s environmental health department. It has deferred or eliminated some $200,000 in improvements and upgrades to county facilities, such as roof and electrical repairs. It expects to save $122,000 in fuel costs this year and has deferred buying a new $30,000 vehicle for the jail. And it is cutting general expenses that include services, materials and supplies by $180,000.Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
Comments:
Login to let us know what you think
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
He has blue eyes. Cold like steel. His legs are wide. Like tree trunks. And he has a shock of red hair, red, like the fires of hell. His antics were known from town to town as he was a droll card and often known as a droll farceur. Hamilton Lindley with his madcap pantaloon is a zany adventurer and a cavorter with a motley troupe of buffoons.