SUBJECT: General Business
Title
Public Hearing: Presentation of the 2024 Budget
Body
DEPARTMENT: Finance Department
PRESENTER: Cassie Bethune, Finance Manager
Victoria Runkle, Interim Finance Director
Melissa Wiley, Deputy Town Administrator
Malcolm Fleming, Town Administrator
TIME ESTIMATE: 90 minutes
only required for non-consent items
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
The budget provides funding for all Town of Erie programs, services, capital projects and initiatives in 2024. The budget reflects revenue in all funds totaling $116.3 million, and expenditures in all funds totaling $141.8 million.
For the General Fund, the recommended 2024 budget reflects revenue of $54.1 million and expenditures of $64.0 million, including $13.5 million for capital projects. The difference between revenue and expenditures will be covered by fund balance and reflects capital project rollovers (multi-year capital projects) and planned use of fund reserves. As a result, staff projects the General Fund will end 2024 with a “spendable fund balance” of approximately $16.9 million, which represents 34% of total personnel & operating expenditures (excluding capital and debt service expenditures) at the end of 2024. With the assumption of a 5% turnback of $2.4 million, the total Fund Balance as a Percent of Operating Expenditures will be 39%, and this is 14% above the recommended goal of 25%.
Town Code specifies the Town Administrator shall cause a proposed budget to be prepared and submitted to the Board of Trustees annually and be responsible for the administration of the budget after its adoption. Through this agenda item, staff submits the proposed 2024 Budget to the Board and requests a Public Hearing on the proposed budget.
Budget Review and Adoption Schedule
On Oct. 3, 2023, Town staff provided an overview of the proposed 2024 Budget including Budget Priorities, General Fund Summary, Revenue Projections, Operating Expenditures, Personnel & Position Requests, Department Budget Presentations, and a high-level summary of Capital Expenditures.
On Oct. 17, staff provided a more detailed review of proposed capital projects for 2024. At that meeting staff proposed the Town adopt a new Reserve Policy. In 2010 the Board adopted an ordinance that included “Stabilization Reserve” of an additional $7.5 million. Staff’s recommendation is to eliminate this additional reserve, and have reserves as of follows:
|
TABOR |
3% |
$2,333,000 |
|
Stabilization |
12% |
$4,900,000 |
|
Emergency |
10% |
$5,900,000 |
|
Total |
25% |
$13,130,000 |
Staff then identified a list of one-time projects that were not able to be funded without drawing on a portion of the $7.5 million Stabilization Reserve. These projects are:
Ø $700K - Street Maintenance (Current $3.8M vs Requested $4.5M)
Ø $1.3M - Makerspace
Ø $114K - Erie Community Center Improvements
Ø $1M - Affordable Housing Property Acquisition
Ø $650K - Facilities Master Plan Implementation
Ø $500K - Bus Stop Construction
Ø $300K - Traffic Mitigation
Ø $820K - LAWSC Additional Space & Security Measures (currently postponed to 2025)
After discussion on October 17, the Board of Trustees also used Balancing Act© to select their priorities. Based on that, and more discussion of the priority of maintaining Town facilities, staff recommends the following capital projects be funded from the $7.5 million:
Ø $700K - Street Maintenance (Current $3.8M vs Requested $4.5M)
Ø $1.3M - Makerspace
Ø $1M - Affordable Housing Property Acquisition
Ø $114K - Erie Community Center Improvements
for a total of $3.1 million. The balance of the $7.5 million ($4.4 million) rolls into the “surplus/shortage” in the table below as illustrated $4.6 million. This amount represents the dollar amount in excess of the proposed 25% reserve requirement.
The forecast reflecting the recommended one-time expenditures from the $7.5 million, and the balance in the “surplus/shortage” line.
These Forecast numbers do not include TABOR reserves. It does include the 5% turnback.
October 24, 2024 will be the first public hearing on the budget. After this public hearing, staff will incorporate any changes the Board wants to see in the proposed budget. Then, in a second Public Hearing on Nov. 14, staff will present the final proposed budget for adoption by the Board.
The attached budget reflects projections of revenues and expenditures based on the latest actual numbers in each category, the preliminary assessed property valuations recently received from Boulder and Weld counties, and the Board direction given during earlier study sessions. The attached budget overview and schedules provide a narrative overview of the budget, a summary of changes in fund balance/working capital in all funds, and summary and detailed budget schedules.
Board Priority(s) Addressed:
ü Managing Growth
ü Fiscal Responsibility
ü Protect Natural Resources
ü Environmental Quality/Safety
ü Maintain Small Town Feel
ü Prosperous Economy
ü Attractive Community
ü Infrastructure Maintenance
ü Increased Public Transit
ü More Recreation Amenities
ü Prioritize Public Safety
ü Diverse Communities
ü Arts, Culture & Entertainment
ü Effective Governance
ATTACHMENTS:
1. 2024 Proposed Budget Memo
2. 2024 Budget Presentation