From the Jeffersonville News and Tribune:
General fund spending is on track with the budget halfway through 2012, New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan said this week.
According to the Gahan administration, the city had spent less than 50 percent of the year’s budget through the second quarter. In 2011, general fund spending was at 56 percent of the budget at the halfway mark, according to the administration.
The 2012 budget is more than the 2011 version, and the general fund — which foots several departments though police and fire receives the bulk of its revenue — has been bolstered through a federal public safety grant this year.
Gahan said the administration’s spending was on track at the end of its first and second quarters in office.
“I have been meeting with our department heads, along with our [city] controller, on a regular basis to ensure that we abide by the budget that was adopted for this year,” Gahan said in a news release this week.
The New Albany City Council had to appropriate almost $4 million last year to balance spending. Several issues were cited for the shortfall, chiefly lack of garnering the maximum levy by the city, a near $2 million deficit that had been rolled forward and, depending on who made the claim, over spending or under funding for public safety.
New Albany’s budget was approved by the city council at $18.7 million for 2012, which was about $3 million more than the 2011 version. The city also has a $1.35 million federal grant to fund salaries for firefighters.
“While other communities are struggling with budgetary issues, New Albany is controlling expenses and living within its budget” said City Controller Mary Ann Prestigiacomo.
While spending is on track to be within the budget, several council members have recently pressed the administration for more financial reports and sponsored measures that would give the legislative body authority over certain disbursement processes.
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The city has to wait sometimes for the state and county to release its property tax revenue to fund expenses. In the interim, the current process is for the city to borrow from its own accounts not tied to the general fund to cover expenses.
Zurschmiede said the ordinance was to ensure the administration followed proper state procedures in garnering council approval before moving funds even if it’s to cover expenses during a payment gap.
Administration officials argued this would slow down financial processes, but they committed to providing the council with more detailed reports on expenses and on any funds that were tapped for gap spending.
The council approved the ordinance, and earlier this week allowed the administration to borrow up to $6.3 million from city accounts for cash flow purposes. Officials said borrowing money from existing accounts such as riverboat, rainy day or tax-increment financing revenue is cheaper than paying interest to a bank for a tax anticipation loan.
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http://newsandtribune.com/business/x1501702307/Gahan-Budget-balanced-so-far
