Balanced Budget Will Be Presented To Holbrook City Council Tuesday

City officials anticipate $4,488,099 in general fund revenues in the upcoming fiscal year, a decrease from $4,552,860 this fiscal year. They are also expecting $3,021,000 in utility revenues, a drop from the $3,228,000 received in 2009-10. Highway User Revenue Funds were cut as part of the state’s effort to balance its budget, with $532,326 HURF receipts expected, a decrease from $594,610 this year.

Projected grant funds total $1,440,000 in the coming year, compared to $2,273,438 in the last fiscal year, and Judicial Collection Enhancement Fund and State Fill The Gap Funds will increase to $22,000 from the $18,000 budgeted for this fiscal year. In addition, a new line item of impound fees has been added to the budget in the amount of $14,000.

There are no major equipment purchases or capital projects planned for upcoming year, and City Manager Ray Alley said that he anticipates only a few changes in operations, with the biggest change being the transfer of dispatch duties from the Holbrook Police Department to the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center.

That agreement has already been approved by both city and county officials, and includes a $110,000 one-year intergovernmental agreement under which the sheriff’s office will provide police, fire, emergency medical and animal control dispatch services. The city will pay $100,000 to cover salary and benefits for two dispatchers, and an additional $10,000 for equipment maintenance. The switch in dispatch services will take place in July.

Alley estimated that the city currently pays $235,000 in salaries for dispatch. The savings gained from the transition will go toward expenses anticipated for the new jail and court fees the city will be required to pay beginning this next fiscal year.

In addition to those changes, the police department has also been asked to cut an additional $60,000 from its budget. Police Chief Mark Jackson indicated that those cuts would come from a variety of sources, such as a reduction in training and uniform allowance, as well as other areas yet to be determined.

As far as jobs are concerned, Alley expects that one or two may be lost through attrition, but he has no plans for any layoffs. Alley also stated that there would be no pay increases for the upcoming year for city employees, but that the city will absorb the three percent increase for medical insurance coverage for its 49 full-time employees at an additional cost to the city of approximately $1,000 per month.

In an effort to save on waste and time, the city has plans to purchase an iPad for each of the five council members, as well as the mayor and vice mayor. At an estimated total cost of $3,500, Alley believes that the initial cost will be a much greater savings than the volume of paperwork generated to each member of the council for meetings and memorandums.

“If we have anything it will go into roads. I’m hoping to get out 20 blocks of roads this year in addition to the work on McLaws Road. The new well should be completed soon and we’ll be looking into putting a water well into Sun Valley, but that will come out of this year’s budget,” stated Alley.

He also hopes to eliminate several lift stations by switching to gravity flow in order to save on maintenance and employee time.

Alley anticipates that no changes will be made regarding the lodgers tax, noting that those funds being utilized by the chamber and the historical society to promote the city through tourism and events seem to be used to their best advantage.

Alley expects to continue the abatement program with the removal of at least one dilapidated and dangerous structure each month. Regarding city-owned structures, Alley stated, “If the city has an old building, I’m of the opinion that we should fix it up for use, or tear it down and be done with it.”

While April 12 will be the first budget work session, the tentative budget must be adopted by July 18 and the final budget by Aug. 1.