Operating expenditures are the most diverse category of expenditures within the Operating Budget. In FY 2014-15, this category will increase approximately $6.1 million or 1.4% from the adjusted FY 2013-14 budget and will make up 24.6% of all expenditures. The expenditures in this category range from office supplies to cleaning services, to the telephone and electrical bills. Some of the major cost drivers in this category for FY 2014-15 include landscaping services for new facilities and roadways, additional funding for pavement maintenance, rental assistance through the Federal Section 8 program, vehicle maintenance, and risk management charges.
The FY 2014-15 Operating Budget also includes additional funding to the City’s Risk Management Fund.
The City and Schools are increasing funding by over $2.3 million for their Risk Management Internal Service Funds and an additional $1 million from the fund balance of the General Fund.
Capital Outlay
Spending on Capital outlay will decline by $1.2 million or 8.1% in FY 2014-15. Due to the large nature of these expenditures, some of the expenses in this category do not occur on an annual basis, while others such as vehicle replacements and computer replacements do. Overall, capital outlay makes up the smallest portion of the total Operating Budget at 0.7%.
Pay-As-You-Go Capital Financing
After increasing in FY 2013-14, the amount of pay-as-you-go capital financing to the Capital Improvement Program is declining $3.5 million or 8.1% in FY 2014-15. Pay-as-you-go capital financing is being reduced in the storm water program by approximately $4.5 million, while it is increasing in the general fund due to the dedicated increase of the personal property tax for enhanced public safety equipment and programs.
For the sixth consecutive year, the Schools will not be able to move any resources to finance capital projects in FY 2014-15. This expenditure category makes up 2.6% of the total budget.
Debt Service and Reserves
These two expenditure categories make up 10.2% of the FY 2014-15 Operating Budget. The FY 2014-15 Debt Service budget totals $163.8 million, which represents a 6.8% increase from the previous year. In FY 2012-13, the City chose not to have a bond sale, which kept debt service in FY 2013-14 somewhat artificially low. This decision helped preserve services; however, as a result, there is a large increase in FY 2014-15 for Debt Service.
Reserves are growing by 57.8% from last year. A significant portion of this growth is for compensation increases for City employees (which are held in a reserve until the fiscal year begins and then distributed to departments). The compensation reserves that have been established by the City and the Schools that were previously discussed also contribute to the rate of growth in this expenditure category. See the Non-Departmental section of the Operating Budget for additional information on the various reserves.
Sustainability and Efficiency Efforts
While the Budget adds new positions and programs based on City Council priorities, there is an on-going commitment to provide quality services in the most productive, efficient, and cost effective way possible.
The FY 2014-15 Operating Budget includes/continues the following sustainability and efficiency efforts:
♦ The Police Department has renegotiated two contracts under which they will operate in FY 2014-15.
The PhotoRed red light camera contract was renegotiated saving $140,000 for FY 2014-15 so was the lease of the police firing range saving $30,228 for FY 2014-15 and $1.9 million over the next 10 years.
♦ EMS is attempting to focus their responses and transports for emergency situations. The department receives numerous calls for non-emergency transport, which can be provided by private agencies. The Department has increased screening of calls by the EMS Shift Commander in order to shift these transports to private ambulance services leaving EMS resources for emergency situations.
♦ Libraries eliminated 5.5 positions in this year’s budget: 4 positions as a result of the installation/implementation of project 3-622 - Automated Materials and Handling at the Central Library and five braches (Libraries eliminated a total of 9 positions as a result of this technology over two years); and 1.5 as a result of staffing efficiencies at the Joint Use Library. The City is the first in the area to install automated materials handling technology.
♦ The City continues to rely heavily on volunteers to increase the capacity of the government to offer services that may not otherwise be provided. For FY 2012-13, there were 20,408 volunteers that contributed 1.4 million hours of volunteer service valued at nearly $20.7 million. This was equivalent to 682 FTEs.
♦ The City remains fully engaged with City Council’s Process Improvement Steering Committee to rethink City processes to improve efficiencies, reduce costs where possible, and improve communications within the organization and between the City and its customers. In the coming year, staff will be participating in a survey providing input to the Committee on possible initiatives.
♦ The combined efforts of departments and teams resulted in 251 quality and productivity initiatives being completed in 2013, as reported in the 2013 Striving for Excellence Report, resulting in service enhancements through improved customer service and increased productivity, process improvements, and technology improvements. These initiatives saved $2.3 million, avoided costs of $2.8 million, generated new revenues totaling $286,417, realized grants totaling $1.5 million, and generated donations of $417,694.
Fiscal Year 2014-15 38 Executive Summary
Despite the improving economy and some rate increases, there are still reductions in current services for both the City and Schools. Some reductions have been achieved through efficiencies; some are a result of declining utilization, while other programs are still needed. There simply are not enough resources available to maintain all City and School programs. A complete list of reductions and other service needs is included in the Requested but Not Funded portion of the Introduction section of both the CIP and the Operating Budget documents.