From the Jeffersonville News and Tribune:
The general fund budget for 2013 will grow to $20 million, and will include a slight increase for most public workers and a boost to street department funding under a fiscal plan submitted by the administration to the New Albany City Council.
Without a shortfall to contend with this year, administration officials said during a meeting Thursday that preliminary indications from the state point to New Albany being able to foot a near $1.2 million increase in its general fund budget for 2013.
“We’re being conservative right now — anticipated revenue could be higher,” said Shane Gibson, an attorney in the city’s legal department, to the city council Thursday during an introductory budget meeting.
The council is charged with approving a budget, and 2013 marks the first time in multiple years the body hasn’t been forced to grapple with a looming shortfall. In November, the council narrowly passed a $2.3 million appropriation to shore up the 2011 general fund shortfall. Mayor Jeff Gahan has maintained that 2012 spending is on par with expected revenue, though this year’s $18.7 million budget is more than the 2011 or 2010 amounts.
The maximum levy growth, the remaining funds from a federal public safety grant and the shifting of $600,000 in 911 dispatch expenses from the general fund to the Economic Development Income Tax account should allow for a $20 million 2013 budget, Gibson said.
The city and county have disputed who should pay the bulk of 911 funding, and Gibson said there are changes likely coming to state law that may take the decision out of the hands of local government.
He said one suggestion is that the state would automatically deduct 911 funding amounts from local property tax rolls. If that change is approved, Gibson said it could reduce the city’s revenue because there would be less of an increase resulting from the maximum levy growth percentage.
In other words, the city’s total revenue would be reduced, therefore the levy increase would be less for New Albany because it’s based on a percentage. Gibson said the city anticipates a 2.9 percent maximum levy increase for 2013, but added the amount could be as high as 3.5 percent.
Without a percentage raise in several years, the budget proposal calls for most city employees to receive a 2 percent salary increase next year. Fire and police aren’t included in the proposal, though through their union contracts, employees of those departments receive a 1 percent annual longevity raise.
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http://newsandtribune.com/floydcounty/x72186332/New-Albany-council-starts-budget-process
