Print
E-mail
Comment
Shenandoah approves $11.65 million budget
By JAKE MUONIO
The Shenandoah City Council has approved an $11.65 million operating budget and about $25 million in capital projects.
At about $500,000 more than the previous year’s budget, much of the budget increase can be traced to an increase in interest tied to bond projects, and salary hikes.
“The largest single increase to note is the debt service payments,” said Shenandoah City Administrator Chip VanSteenberg. “Those went up about $240,000, and that’s because we sold additional debt for the Shenandoah Valley project. … But most of our operating costs in the general fund are actually a reduction.”
The council approved the budget at its Aug. 27 meetings, despite a dissenting vote coming from Councilman Ron Hyde.
Hyde objected to the city using any money collected from property taxes on city operations, an amount which is expected to total $42,435 in the upcoming year. A tax rate of 34.7 cents per $100 property value, the same rate as the previous year, was approved by the council as well.
Hyde also asked that money from the city’s reserve fund be used to fund a portion of Phase 1 of the Shenandoah Valley Improvement Project that is now slated to be completed in the second phase.
Shenandoah’s general fund expenditures for the 2008-2009 fiscal year are budgeted at $6,923,650.
About 45 percent of that money, $3,187,970, is slated to go toward the police department. The next largest expenditure areas are for city administration and public works/community development, with respective budgets of $1,484,680 and $1,812,310.
VanSteenberg said two full-time positions and one part-time position were cut. The city’s fire inspector and code enforcement positions was rolled together, the police department trimmed an office position and the municipal court cut a court clerk position. Also, two full-time public works employees were added. All of the staffing reductions were vacant positions.
The new budget is the first time in VanSteenberg’s four years with the city there have not been new staff positions in the city, he said.
Shenandoah officials also took a conservative approach on sales tax revenue growth.
After seeing a few years of double-digit growth in its sales tax revenue, the city saw an increase of 7.2 percent in the 2007-08 fiscal year – a number that still exceeded its 6 percent growth projection. In the recently-approved budget, the city is projecting a 3 percent increase in sales tax revenue.
Shenandoah is planning for more than $25 million in capital improvement projects for the year.
The largest piece of the capital improvements $9.2 million worth of work in the Shenandoah Valley subdivision. Money for the drainage, water and road work was approved by voters in a May 2007 bond election.
In addition to the Shenandoah Valley project, an additional $5.9 million in improvements are planned for other streets in the city, including the connection of Vision Park Boulevard to Grogan’s Mill Road and the widening of Wellman Road.
Money is also being set aside for work on several sewer and water system improvements. The city will be spending about $2.8 million to drill a new water well in the Tamina area. The well will include a water tower. More than $1 million is also being set aside to purchase a piece of land for another well on the west side of Interstate 45.
Upgrades to the city’s free wireless Internet system were included in the budget as well.
At about $500,000 more than the previous year’s budget, much of the budget increase can be traced to an increase in interest tied to bond projects, and salary hikes.
“The largest single increase to note is the debt service payments,” said Shenandoah City Administrator Chip VanSteenberg. “Those went up about $240,000, and that’s because we sold additional debt for the Shenandoah Valley project. … But most of our operating costs in the general fund are actually a reduction.”
The council approved the budget at its Aug. 27 meetings, despite a dissenting vote coming from Councilman Ron Hyde.
Hyde objected to the city using any money collected from property taxes on city operations, an amount which is expected to total $42,435 in the upcoming year. A tax rate of 34.7 cents per $100 property value, the same rate as the previous year, was approved by the council as well.
Hyde also asked that money from the city’s reserve fund be used to fund a portion of Phase 1 of the Shenandoah Valley Improvement Project that is now slated to be completed in the second phase.
Shenandoah’s general fund expenditures for the 2008-2009 fiscal year are budgeted at $6,923,650.
About 45 percent of that money, $3,187,970, is slated to go toward the police department. The next largest expenditure areas are for city administration and public works/community development, with respective budgets of $1,484,680 and $1,812,310.
VanSteenberg said two full-time positions and one part-time position were cut. The city’s fire inspector and code enforcement positions was rolled together, the police department trimmed an office position and the municipal court cut a court clerk position. Also, two full-time public works employees were added. All of the staffing reductions were vacant positions.
The new budget is the first time in VanSteenberg’s four years with the city there have not been new staff positions in the city, he said.
Shenandoah officials also took a conservative approach on sales tax revenue growth.
After seeing a few years of double-digit growth in its sales tax revenue, the city saw an increase of 7.2 percent in the 2007-08 fiscal year – a number that still exceeded its 6 percent growth projection. In the recently-approved budget, the city is projecting a 3 percent increase in sales tax revenue.
Shenandoah is planning for more than $25 million in capital improvement projects for the year.
The largest piece of the capital improvements $9.2 million worth of work in the Shenandoah Valley subdivision. Money for the drainage, water and road work was approved by voters in a May 2007 bond election.
In addition to the Shenandoah Valley project, an additional $5.9 million in improvements are planned for other streets in the city, including the connection of Vision Park Boulevard to Grogan’s Mill Road and the widening of Wellman Road.
Money is also being set aside for work on several sewer and water system improvements. The city will be spending about $2.8 million to drill a new water well in the Tamina area. The well will include a water tower. More than $1 million is also being set aside to purchase a piece of land for another well on the west side of Interstate 45.
Upgrades to the city’s free wireless Internet system were included in the budget as well.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
