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Grantsville finds solid ground with $8.1 million budget
Jun 17, 2010 | 908 views | 0 
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A year ago, Grantsville City officials were grappling with a huge budget deficit and considering a drastic tax increase. This year, although the city’s budget for the upcoming year remains tight and departments were trimmed, there were few deep cuts in spending and a return to building up the city’s rainy day fund.
The Grantsville City Council approved an $8.1 million total operating budget for 2010-11 at Wednesday night’s city council meeting that is slightly higher than last year’s $8 million budget.
The total budget includes a general fund of $3.5 million, up 8 percent from last year.
“We approached the budget differently [this year] and of course we had some council members who’d never gone through the budget process,” said Grantsville Mayor Brent Marshall. “One of the things in our favor was starting early and identifying revenue streams and project revenues.”
Finance director Tom Hammond added that the general fund budget may seem a tad misleading, as it includes a $256,250 grant for energy-efficient upgrades to Grantsville City Hall, the city recreation center and city maintenance shop from the Utah State Energy Program.
“We’re higher this coming year [with the budget],” Hammond said. “Part of that is the money they’ve already discussed from the grant. We’re also generating a little more revenue as far as sales taxes.”
The city is anticipated a $20,000 increase in sales tax for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
The majority of the departments in the general fund will have similar funding as last year. The fire and police departments saw minor increases. However the parks, cemetery, protective inspections, zoning and executive and central staff also saw slight decreases over last year’s budget.
The city also has enough money left over to begin a rainy day fund of nearly $50,000, coming mostly from $43,446 in savings by switching insurance providers. They’ve also added in $6,000 from the police department from a lower-wage replacement hire.
“We’ve had a rainy day fund before, but I guess there was a cloud burst and apparently there was a rain storm and it was consumed,” Marshall said. “Hopefully the outlook will continue to be positive.”
He added that he’d like to see a rainy day fund of $250,000 to $500,000 or up to the 18 percent of the budget allowed by state law.
Although there is no cost-of-living increase for the second consecutive year, the council approved a one-time stipend of $560 for city employees, excluding elected officials, Marshall said which will total $28,000.
“The employees went without a raise and are going again this year,” he said. “This is a one-time deal. It’s 1 percent on total wages so it’s fair and equal across the board.”
Councilman Mike Johnson felt the budget process this year compared to last was leaps and bounds better.
“We knew where we were at and what was going on, unlike last year and the year before,” Johnson said. “I’m satisfied [with the cuts that were made], the only thing I’d like to see is get a portion of the 401(k) back and cost-of-living increase for city employees. But, it wasn’t in the numbers.”
Missy Thompson: missy@tooeletranscript.com
The Grantsville City Council approved an $8.1 million total operating budget for 2010-11 at Wednesday night’s city council meeting that is slightly higher than last year’s $8 million budget.
The total budget includes a general fund of $3.5 million, up 8 percent from last year.
“We approached the budget differently [this year] and of course we had some council members who’d never gone through the budget process,” said Grantsville Mayor Brent Marshall. “One of the things in our favor was starting early and identifying revenue streams and project revenues.”
Finance director Tom Hammond added that the general fund budget may seem a tad misleading, as it includes a $256,250 grant for energy-efficient upgrades to Grantsville City Hall, the city recreation center and city maintenance shop from the Utah State Energy Program.
“We’re higher this coming year [with the budget],” Hammond said. “Part of that is the money they’ve already discussed from the grant. We’re also generating a little more revenue as far as sales taxes.”
The city is anticipated a $20,000 increase in sales tax for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
The majority of the departments in the general fund will have similar funding as last year. The fire and police departments saw minor increases. However the parks, cemetery, protective inspections, zoning and executive and central staff also saw slight decreases over last year’s budget.
The city also has enough money left over to begin a rainy day fund of nearly $50,000, coming mostly from $43,446 in savings by switching insurance providers. They’ve also added in $6,000 from the police department from a lower-wage replacement hire.
“We’ve had a rainy day fund before, but I guess there was a cloud burst and apparently there was a rain storm and it was consumed,” Marshall said. “Hopefully the outlook will continue to be positive.”
He added that he’d like to see a rainy day fund of $250,000 to $500,000 or up to the 18 percent of the budget allowed by state law.
Although there is no cost-of-living increase for the second consecutive year, the council approved a one-time stipend of $560 for city employees, excluding elected officials, Marshall said which will total $28,000.
“The employees went without a raise and are going again this year,” he said. “This is a one-time deal. It’s 1 percent on total wages so it’s fair and equal across the board.”
Councilman Mike Johnson felt the budget process this year compared to last was leaps and bounds better.
“We knew where we were at and what was going on, unlike last year and the year before,” Johnson said. “I’m satisfied [with the cuts that were made], the only thing I’d like to see is get a portion of the 401(k) back and cost-of-living increase for city employees. But, it wasn’t in the numbers.”
Missy Thompson: missy@tooeletranscript.com
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