The governing body passed the recent fiscal year 2016-2017 budget two weeks ago and to get to that approval was just that, a process.
We are always looking at the budget and managing all of its elements, and as a city, we developed our initial internal and external meetings schedule in February. This schedule included department head meetings, Finance Committee meetings, six promoted workshops for the public on elements of the budget such as community service requests, the enterprise funds and their rate study, fee schedules, the general fund, as well as the hearing and adoption of the budget. These are on top of the regular Tuesday meetings each month the council hosts. It is a long and tedious process but one that definitely can be refined and modified going forward and it is an area we have already begun to review this week. We are looking to identify and address areas where we feel we can streamline and shorten the process, get more input, communicate and/or educate, and be more efficient and effective for all involved.
Statutorily, we have to submit a budget to the governing body in April and it has to be passed between the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of June. The workshops and meetings we have are to help share and gather information to help make more informed choices. We advertise these meetings in the Green River Star, our website, on local radio stations, and we broadcast the workshops and council meetings live on cable TV. Sometimes it seems redundant but we understand that there are multiple avenues people access information. Recently, we invested in a new application platform that will allow access to reports and budgets and information tracking on line.
All of this is done at a level to be transparent. Yet, even at these levels it still may seem to some that it should be more because when you are not involved in the process at multiple stages, it is hard to put together the tidbits of information into the complete story.
Everyone is well aware of the current struggles our economy in our city and across the state has and continues to face. Wyoming’s dependence on natural resources and our dependence on sales tax revenues leave it vulnerable to economic swings that must be managed. While we have not been hit as hard as some areas of the state this is another year of cuts where we have to manage a decrease in revenues that hasn’t been seen by the city in over 13 years. We started seeing an indication of declining revenues at the end of last fiscal year and began an early process of expense management and still continue to drive down those costs where we can.
The work the department heads and their staff have done going into this budget year has been commendable. They have had to sit with their departments and strategize how to manage not only decreased sales tax revenues, but also a major decrease in the one-time monies we get from the state. We have shared ideas and gone outside the box to attack the budget challenges that still delivers beyond basic needs to the residents and yet still meets the priorities from the governing body that deal with safety, people, infrastructure and development. Some of the things we are implementing have never been done before and we will be monitoring the results to see how their impact is helping us. As an organization, even at the government level, we have to be able to continue to monitor and work towards delivering our best.
The bottom line is that it all comes down to people, process and efficiencies. The governing body and management understand the importance of people and the jobs they do. All of us will be challenged over the coming months and beyond. It isn’t a matter of “doing more with less”, but more of the scenario of “is what we are doing being done for the best of the residents and the city, and is it being done efficiently and to the best of our abilities”?
We have made some serious cuts in some areas, we have to continue to educate the citizens about expectations, and we have to continue to monitor where we can still improve. We have, as management and the governing body, been working to plan for possible further reductions if the economy continues to trend in that direction. But we also understand we have to move forward in other areas as well. We have to continue to work towards economic development even in the down turns by finding other revenue sources, grants, or partnerships.
We still have to follow the vision and continue to make headway in those long range plans that deal with infrastructure needs and maintenance so that when we do come out of the downturn we are more prepared. There are areas where budgets will not be able to provide some programs at previous expected levels.
We will have to continue to monitor and be creative in managing our revenues and expenses but it can be done. The sky hasn’t fallen and we are still very fortunate at many levels here in Green River. We will continue to support our residents and our employees where we are obligated and where we can.
As a last note, I wanted to discuss the enterprise funds and the rate structure. Rates that were passed for the funds included a 2 percent increase in Solid Waste, an 11 percent increase in our sewer, and a 4 percent increase in water.
The 11 percent increase in Sewer directly deals with the state loan we have for the engineered drawings on the new waste water treatment facility that we need. This project is 4-5 years out and will be at a cost of roughly $30 million. We will be working to get grants and other loan components to limit the cost where we can to the residents. But this facility is long past its life cycle. The major cost to fix the old plant only offers a limited life span and will not be able to meet discharge requirements we will be faced with in the future.
The 4 percent increase in water was due to the 4 percent increase on our wholesale price we pay the Joint Powers Water Board and a need to increase fees towards capital improvement project needs that are funded through this account. This was not solely due to the JPWB increase. The 2 percent in Solid Waste is also for capital improvement and specifically new garbage trucks and replacing the ones that are more than 20 years old. The average consumer is going to see about a $4.60 increase in their bills as a total.
We understand rates are a sensitive issue. For this reason, the governing body and administration approved funds last year to do a complete rate audit of all enterprise funds. This audit is almost complete and will be presented at another workshop in the near future. This audit is helping to build a long term plan on rate structure in all our enterprise funds as well as the philosophy behind it that is similar to other communities and national standards.
There will be a lot of communication and education as we move forward in this area but it is a work in progress that must define our needs and the resident expectations of service.
For those of you who would like to be more involved in the how the city operates, there are many volunteer positions on boards and committees looking for dedicated citizens who want to make a difference.
Reader Comments(0)