Mayor's proposed budget revised

BY KATIE QUINONEZ

With the current state of the economy, it is particularly difficult for local governments to fathom even a minor increase in revenue to fund the most basic of necessities such as infrastructure upkeep and filling law enforcement positions.

Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 shows a projected $2 million decrease in revenue from the previous fiscal year with grants included, with a total of $41.8 million. Expenditures are expected to be the same amount.

City revenues through June 30, 2011 are expected to be about $41.6 million with grants. Expenditures are expected to be about $1 million less than that.

City expenditures for fiscal year 2009-2010 were budgeted for $44.9 million, but actual expenditures were $4.2 million less than that. Revenues were budgeted for the same amount as expenditures and were about $4.4 million less.

The business and occupation tax have been the city's highest sources of revenue for the past three fiscal years.  The current budget has allowed $15.8 million in B&O tax revenues while the proposed budget for the next fiscal year projects $16.3 million in revenues.

The Huntington Police Department accounts for the highest expected expenditure in the proposed budget. The department’s proposed budget is $10.9 million, an approximate $400,000 decrease from the current budget.
The police department will be receiving four new high definition surveillance cameras, which will bring the total number of surveillance cameras used in the city to 21, said Police Chief Skip Holbrook.

“This is an industry standard that law enforcement has moved to that basically allows us to provide a higher level service in the absence of personnel,” Holbrook said. “When people know there is a camera monitoring them, it tends to curtail some of the activity that if the cameras weren’t there might take place.

Administration and Finance director Brandi Jacobs-Jones said the successful bidder to furnish the cameras is McDaniel Electric of Huntington. The total cost will be $52,000 and Homeland Security grant monies will cover $51,000 of the costs.

Holbrook said the police department relies on grant money to supplement city money received in previous fiscal years.

The police and fire department were both asked by the city to give up money in their budgets to go toward the paving of roads in the city. The police department gave up about $70,000 and the fire department gave up about $200,000, according to the finalized budget.

An issue that perplexes most people is how city officials determine total revenue and expenditures for each fiscal year.

The city’s finance director, Deron Runyan, said the first thing city officials do is look at the current year and estimate where the city’s finances will total. From there they make adjustments.

Runyan said from there each department in January submits expected expenditures  for the following fiscal year. He said items such as gas and utilities were in particular budgeted too low.

“Each department puts their list of all their employees and what the expected costs are and then we give them a baseline of what they submitted,” Runyan said. “Outside of that, they submitted a list of capital improvements they would like to make.”

Runyan said he has been the city’s finance director for three years, and every year departments are given a budget lower than their initial request.