From the Bloomington Herald-Times:
In the Ellettsville Town Council’s “roundtable discussion” Wednesday, supervisors presented — at the request of council members — revised budget proposals that included a 10 percent reduction in its Category II, III and IV expenses: supplies, services and capital expenditures. The presentations prompted discussion among council members as to the need for such cuts, and ultimately culminated in a decision to continue the discussion at a meeting to be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ellettsville Fire Department training room, 5080 W. Ind. 46. Council President Scott Oldham said he had requested the 10 percent reduction from each department because every year, departments generally return more than 10 percent of the money appropriated in their budgets to the general fund. Oldham said his thought was that by holding more of the funds in the general fund, rather than appropriating them into various departments’ budgets, that pool of funds would be more readily available if an unexpected expense cropped up in any department. Council members discussed leaving that funding in a “miscellaneous” line, perhaps in the clerk-treasurer’s budget, where it would be easily accessible if a department needed a quick transfer to cover an unexpected expense. The town’s proposed budget is already considered a “funded budget,” meaning that the town has enough cash reserves left over from previous years to make up the difference between the revenue it expects to receive and its anticipated expenses, Clerk-Treasurer Sandy Hash said. However, Wednesday’s discussion was a move closer toward a balanced budget — one in which revenues equal expenditures — something that pleased council member Dan Swafford, who said he’s been pushing for a balanced budget for six years. Before the proposed cuts, the town’s anticipated roughly $2.2 million budget for the clerk-treasurer, police, fire and planning departments anticipated roughly a $99,000 deficit between collections and revenue. Generally, that deficit is covered by the funds various departments have appropriated the previous year but did not ultimately spend, Swafford said.... See the full article here:
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2012/08/02/news.department-supervisors-give-budget-cutting-ideas.sto
