The City Council was presented with the details of the proposed Fiscal Year 2013-2014 Annual Operating Budget at a budget workshop on Tuesday, June 24. A special city council meeting was held on Wednesday, June 26 for a resolution to adopt the proposed budget. The budget passed 5 to 0 with all council members in agreement.
“We are making it (the budget) work,” said City Manager, Jill Anderson. “The budget is structurally balanced.”
According to the agenda for the special meeting, the City Council was presented with a General Fund budget that reflected a structural surplus, rather than a structural deficit. This means that the revenues anticipated for the upcoming fiscal year will exceed those required to pay for projected expenditures thereby requiring no reserve funds. Even after the incorporation of the additional items as directed by Council the city’s General Fund continues to operate in structural surplus.
Anderson also expressed that the city property tax revenue was higher than they expected.
The status of the General Fund after the inclusion of the recommended items are as follows, Beginning Reserve July 1, 2013 $968,045, Projected Revenues of a plus $8,026,138, Requested Appropriations minus $7,995,987 with the Ending Reserve on June 30, 2014 a total of $998,196. This is a 12.44 percent increase to the reserve budget, which gives the city a structural surplus of $30,151.
As stated in a report by Marisela Hernandez, Director of Finance the General Fund revenues are expected to increase by 2.8 percent overall in comparison to the Fiscal Year 2012-13 budgeted revenues. Although several revenue sources are beginning to experience increases as Riverbank slowly climbs out from the recession, other sources reflect decreases, particularly one-time funds (such as legal fee reimbursements from the Tuolumne County Quarry settlement).
The proposed budget also includes savings from the prior fiscal year of salaries for two vacant Sheriff Deputy positions within the Riverbank Police Services that are anticipated to save $216,000. There is also a 15 percent reduction in Grover Landscape Services, which is a $14,000 saving.
Included in the recommended budget from the Building Maintenance Division was $12,400 for roof restoration repairs for the Riverbank Museum and City Hall North.
The adoption of the final operating budget also includes the appropriation of funds to a variety of Special Revenue, System Development Fee, Housing, Sewer, and Water Enterprise Funds. These funds are legally restricted to be spent in a specific matter and are therefore eligible to be classified as a separate fund from the General Fund and were also adopted.
The adoption of the Fiscal Year 2013-14 Annual Operating Budget will result in appropriation of $16,605,635 in city funds.
