The FY2013 draft budget

I received this monstrous 400+ page heavy budget book as part of my regular council packet last Friday evening. The City also published the budget on its website today.

Please note that this is not the adopted budget – it’s the draft version as requested by the City manager. The budget will go over several iterations through upcoming  budget worksessions this month.

Council member Wojahn, Afzali, Mitchell and I are also planning to have a budget town hall meeting on April 26 at 7 pm at Davis Hall. Please try to attend.

Some of the highlights of the budget are as follows:

The Budget for FY2013 is $14,493,984 (a 2.76% increase from the FY2012 adjusted budget), including operating revenues of $14,339,323 plus a $251,950 interfund transfer from the Parking Debt Service Fund and a $97,289 budgeted surplus. It is assumed that this budgeted surplus will be allocated to other items during the budget worksessions. The FY2013 Budget includes the following revenue and expenditure highlights and changes:

• The real property tax rate of $0.322 per $1 00 of assessed valuation is maintained, with no increase from FY2012. The personal property tax rate $0.805 per $100 of assessed valuation is maintained, with no increase from FY2012.
• The FY2013 requested budget projects a 7.5% increase in income tax revenue, from $1,275,000 to $1,370,000, based on a comparison of year-to-date receipts.
• The FY2013 requested budget projects intergovernmental tax revenue (including admission & amusement tax, highway user tax, and hotel/motel tax) at 8.7% less than the FY2012 adopted budget, due to reductions in the FY13 budget for admission & amusement tax and highway user tax.
• Residential properties currently comprise 64.2 percent of the City’s tax base. The gross residential tax base (prior to application of the homestead tax credit for owner-occupied properties) in FY2012 was $1,458,785,236 and is projected to be $1,448,269,956 for FY2013, a decrease of 0.7%. After applying the homestead tax credit at 104% for FY2013, there is an increase of 1.1 %.
• Commercial and industrial properties comprise the other 35.8 percent of the City’s tax base. The commercial tax base in FY2012 was $701,158,520 and is projected to be $808,625,366 for FY2013, an increase of 15.3%.
• One cent of the tax rate represents $232,877, including real property tax, personal property tax at 2.5 times the real property tax rate, PILOT-UM CASL property and PILOT-UM Washington Post property.
• For FY13, economic development has not had a significant financial impact on tax revenues. In the future, it is hoped that economic development projects would have a much greater impact on revenue.
• The FY2013 requested budget does not include any proposed increases in fees, charges or fines.
• The public parking garage opened in August 2009 and permanent 20-year financing settled on February 25, 2011. The FY13 requested budget includes a $251,950 interfund transfer from the Parking Debt Service Fund to the General Fund in order to cover the excess of debt service on the parking garage bond over parking garage-related revenues. It is hoped that, over time, revenues from
the parking garage will increase to close that gap.
• Net speed enforcement camera revenue, budgeted at $2,000,000 less vendor processing charges of $780,000, will be used for public safety purposes, including pedestrian safety improvements.