City council approves tentative budget

The Weiser City Council on Monday approved a tentative budget for fiscal year 2020 that totals $11.4 million and reflects no major increases in spending over the current fiscal year.
 In a short discussion on the budget, Mayor Diana Thomas said city department heads worked hard to keep expenses in line and the FY 2020 budget actually reduces expenditures.
 Insurance costs for city employees, a significant personnel expense for the city, saw a drop in the budget, she said.
 City employees will see a 3 percent wage increase in the FY 2020 budget. The only capital expense of note is the purchase of two police cars. The police department didn’t buy a new vehicle last year so the money could be used for upgrades to the city pool in Memorial Park.
 The general fund portion of the budget will see a slight increase in spending in FY 2020 of 2.8 percent over FY 2019. The general fund expenditures total $3,089,955 for FY 2020 compared to $3,004,478 in FY 2019.
 The general fund pays for a number of city services and collects the most property taxes.
 The budget for the Weiser Police Department and animal control is pegged at $1.55 million, an increase over the $1.37 million in the FY 2019 budget. The general fund includes $564,546 for the city fire department and building inspection. The budget for the parks, pool and the Vendome is $279,781.
 The city will collect $1.81 million in property taxes in FY 2020, an increase of 2.8 percent over the $1.76 million in taxes in the FY 2019 budget. Under state law, cities and counties can increase their property taxes by a maximum of 3 percent annually.
 A decade ago the city lowered taxes and still has $86,000 in forgone taxes that it never collected and could use in the future, city clerk David Tate said.
 “We really strive to be good stewards of the people’s money. That’s our job,” he said.
 The city will collect $1.29 million in property taxes for the general fund and another $211,370 for the street fund. The library will see $129,429 in property taxes, while the recreation fund will get $87,375 in property taxes.
 Property taxes are only a small portion of the $11.4 million in total city revenues for FY 2020. Other revenue sources will bring in $9.6 million, which includes the fees for services provided by the city for electricity, water, sewer and garbage.
 In the FY 2020 budget, the city has allocated $686,823 for the street fund. The city will collect $211,370 in property taxes for city streets and another $479,953 in revenue will come from other sources, primarily gas taxes and vehicle registrations.
 The city is planning to do a chip seal project on East Main Street and a scrub coat of asphalt on East Commercial Street from U.S. Highway 95 to East 13th Street. The project is similar to what was done on Park Street when it received a new pavement surface.
 The city also operates enterprise funds that provide service to city customers, such as water, electric, garbage and sewer. The individual utility operations are funded by revenues paid by city residents for services and do not receive any tax dollars.
 The electric fund budget for FY 2020 is the largest of any city department at $3.4 million and the numbers didn’t change much from the FY 2019 budget. The city has allocated nearly $2.7 million out of the electric fund to buy power from the BPA and retail it to city customers in FY 2020. The city operates its own electric utility but does not generate any power.
 The water fund budget is down in FY 2020 from FY 2019 by nearly $200,000. The water department budget comes in at $1.45 million in FY 2020 compared to $1.67 million in FY 2019.
 The city council will hold a public hearing on the final budget on Aug. 26 at city hall. The public is invited to attend.