City gets interim budget

Staff Writer

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At the Tuesday Portales City Council meeting, Marilyn Rapp, city financial director, presented city councilors with an interim budget that has decreased in revenue since the 2015-16 fiscal year.

Rapp said the interim budget involves rough numbers that will be more narrowed down as the process continues and before the final budget is due July 31. The interim budget is part of a two-budget system and is due to the state by June 1.

Rapp started with the general fund, saying projected revenues have been decreased by over $131,000 since the 2015-16 fiscal year.

She said it is projected they will lose tens of thousands of dollars in franchise tax, ambulance collections and municipal court fines (due to anticipating less court fines) for 2016-17.

Sammy Standefer, city manager, said these numbers have not been refined yet.

“We always try to be as conservative as possible in our budget so these numbers are not exact,” said Standefer.

Rapp said they are also projecting there will be $165,964 more transferred from the general fund to other budgets such as corrections (for those arrested by city police), the Portales Public Library, public transit and capital projects.

She said while these transfers are up, they are transferring $256,000 less dollars to other funds since a legislative appropriation has given money to the building fund and the comprehensive plan finished last year.

Standefer said this comprehensive plan was a capital fund for “the future and dreams and goals” that must be renewed every five years and upon its renewal, it no longer requires the transfer.

Expenditures from the general fund were raised slightly, about $61,000, due to raises in salaries, benefits, travel and purchased properties, according to Rapp, and due to an upfront cost of about $165,000, expenditures involving solid waste rose 22 percent.

The Public Works Department has changed the way they are dealing with roll off by purchasing a new truck. The department previously depended on an outside company and now plans on getting rid of the waste on their own, according to John DeSha, Portales Public Works Director, who said this was a preliminary cost.

This increase is also due to a $35 per ton increase in cost from the Clovis Landfill, according to Standefer.

There was also a decrease in revenues from the water department due to the closing of Southwest Canners, who were consuming up to 250,000 gallons of water per month, according to DeSha.

There was also an increase in funds transferred for capital projects which includes money taken from the reserve account. The capital projects include dispatch radio upgrades, police vehicles, sprinkler tie-ins, playground equipment and an electric heater for the Parks workhouse. The total transfer was just over $219,000 — a $19,000 increase from last year.

Overall, the budget is down from last year with less revenue, more expenditures and a need to dip into the reserves. Rapp said this is due to the way they budget, however.

“We budget expenditures aggressively, revenues conservatively and would rather be careful than be overly optimistic and run into trouble,” said Rapp.