A tale of two budgets

CHENEY – With little fanfare or comment, the City Council took care of two budgets at its Dec. 8 meeting.

The first involved passage of an ordinance adopting the city’s nearly $32.74 million 2021 budget. The budget included appropriations revenues and expenses of $9.99 million for the Light Department — revenues officials have acknowledged may be about 10 % lower than projected due to reduced activity at Eastern Washington University as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The budget also includes just over $8.5 million in total expenses for the Public Works Department but with revenues estimated to be at about $8.253 million. Much of the difference lies in the Building and Planning Department, which is budgeting expenses in 2021 at over $300,000 but anticipating revenues at around $100,000 as construction activity slows down, continuing a trend from 2020 as reflected in a marked drop in permits and inspections.

Revenues and expenses for the fire and police departments are budgeted at $2.141 million and $3.2 million, most of which is paid for out of the city’s $8.656 million general fund budget. Also included in the general fund budget is most of the funding for the administration ($1.514 million), finance ($1,176,900) and parks and recreation ($1,278,700) departments along with the Municipal Court budget at $413,200.

In a presentation at the Nov. 10 council meeting, City Administrator Mark Schuller said parks and recreation were projecting revenues at $1,553,000 in 2021 — a projection he said “started as a glass half full but is trending glass half empty” as more indications of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic become visible. The department’s programs have been largely curtailed due to restrictions surrounding containing the spread of the virus, with some offering such as the city’s pool not even opening this season.

Whether or not the department can achieve that goal is dependent upon what happens with the virus in 2021. While loss of revenues may be offset by a reduction in expenses as programs don’t run, Schuller said it’s likely the department’s budget will need to be revisited sometime in the future.

“I don’t feel we’ll get back to normalcy in early 2021,” Schuller said. “I’m pessimistic about offering in-service programs.”

As part of the budgeting process, the council held a final public hearing in which there was no additional comment or input provided. Finance Director Cindy Niemeier reiterated to the 2021 budget contained no rate increases and an actual reduction in the general property and EMS levy rates from $3.10 to $2.71 and from 50 cents to 44 cents respectively per $1,000 in assessed property valuation.

“It’s a balanced budget in all funds,” Niemeier added.

Council’s second budget moves involved 2020, beginning with approval of a resolution authorizing “’commitment’ of governmental revenue streams to other governmental funds” outside of the general fund. Those included EMS levy revenues to the EMS fund and specific percentages of taxes on natural gas and electricity to funds such as the Street Fund and Parks and Recreation Fund — which are the two biggest funds receiving outside revenue, Niemeier said.

“The Parks and Recreation fund has some big revenue and it comes in as a large amount,” she added.

Finally, the council approved an ordinance amending the 2020 budget for the final time. The amendment added $257,400 in revenues and appropriations, bringing the final amount for this year to $33,089,100.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.