Document text
To get involved What : Public hearing on Central Point's budget When : 7 tonight Where : City Hall, 155 S. Second St., Central Point No big project means less spending by Central Point By SUSAN JAY CENTRAL POINT -- The city's proposed 1999-2000 budget is slightly smaller -- by $86,851 -- than 1998-99's, even though it includes seven more employees. A public hearing on the proposed $10.3 million budget is set for this evening. The difference between this fiscal year and the coming one is that the city has no plans for major capital projects, said Bill Brugger, city finance manager. Last year the city installed the water line to Erickson Air Crane, he said. Nothing that major is in the works. However, he said, "we have a lot of things we plan to do. We are going to do a lot of street work and improvements to the water system, but we don't have that one big huge project that we did last year." Jim Bennett, city administrator, said more staff is needed because the city's needs are growing. "We've got more people to serve, more assets to take care of and more infrastructure to take care of," he said. Seven more employees are in the proposed budget; they would work in public works, planning, police and administration. That figure will bring the number of city staff to 57. The upcoming budget also holds one surprise. The city will have more money in its carryover fund. The building department has issued more building permits than was projected for this fiscal year, Brugger said. "I believe we will have over 50 building permits this month, which is almost two and a half times what our average budget is scheduled for," he said. "We are going to be, in building permits, approximately $150,000 exceeding budget," he said. Most of the city's operations are funded by its general fund, which is funded by property taxes. Property taxes for the proposed budget will increase by 3 percent, in addition to the value of new construction, annexations and rezonings. The proposed budget also has a $2.1 million reserve fund for loans, transfers and to balance the general fund in case of a revenue shortfall or emergencies. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA