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Ashland may review use of budget funds By TONY BOOM ASHLAND - A proposal by Mayor Alan DeBoer would benefit schools and social services facing tight budgets by gifting some city funds left over at the end of the budget year. Public transit and taxpayers also could benefit. At a budget committee meeting last week, DeBoer suggested up to $1 million might be available. He says the city carries too much money in the city's ending fund balances. "The state's under a budget crunch. I think schools and social services are probably going to struggle," said DeBoer. "My thought is to take some money and assist those things for no more than two years." Most city funds have leftover money when the fiscal year stops June 30. The balances allow departments to continue paying for expenses in the following year before new revenue comes in. The city's revenue comes in irregularly throughout the year. The ending balances can also serve as contingencies. "The council has set the goals and minimum requirements for each fund based on historical expenses," said Marty Levine, a member of the budget committee. "It's a good idea to review that periodically. There may be money buried in there that can be released for other things." DeBoer brought up the issue as a councilman during the 1990s, said Levine. A council review resulted in dropping end balances by $300,000, which was used to reduce property taxes. Ashland School District would receive $200,000, social service agencies $100,000 and public transit $300,000 under DeBoer's proposal. The other $400,000 could be used as a reserve, spent on other needs or used to lower property tax bills. The city would pay the full cost of the safety resource officer for the high and middle schools. DeBoer would have the city's Parks and Recreation Department take over school groundskeeping. He'd also retain school health clinics, which are under threat of closing. Ashland schools get $1.7 million from the town's voter-approved School Activities Levy. The district's total budget is $20.5 million. "The things that the mayor has selected are very appropriate," said district Superintendent Juli Di Chiro. "Many community members use our playgrounds and fields as parks." Social service agencies would have another $100,000 available in grants under DeBoer's proposal. Agencies are budgeted to get $181,000 from the city this year. Federal Community Development Block Grant funds have also gone to service agencies, but they may not be available next year. "We'll need alternate transportation due to highway work," said DeBoer. Major work planned for Siskiyou Boulevard and Ashland Street will require a more user-friendly transit system, he said. City Council policy calls for an end balance in the general fund of 10 percent of annual operating revenue. The general fund had an end balance June 30 of $1.9 million, nearly $900,000 more than the target. This year's end target is $1.08 million. City Finance Director Lee Tuneburg won't have projections on ending balances for the current fiscal year until April. But a tax reduction approved by the council last year and Qwest's non-payment of about $200,000 in franchise fees to the city while Ashland and other cities litigate the dispute could affect the June 30 balance, he said. Medford's City Council changed its end balance requirements in December from 25 percent of total budget to 25 percent of operational expenses, excluding capital improvements, said Larry Bryant, finance director. Some managers found it difficult to maintain the previous requirement. Grants Pass has no formal policy, but aims for an end balance of 10 percent of the general fund, said Joanne Stumpf, finance director. In the last several years the end balance has been 7 percent. Fund balance practices vary from city to city, said Michelle Deister of the League of Oregon Cities. Cities similar in size to Ashland that she examined ranged in 2000 from a 50 percent general fund end balance in Klamath Falls to 25 percent in McMinnville. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.