High Springs reviews general fund structure, personnel costs and reserves at budget workshop

Mayor Kevin Brender and city staff held a budget workshop focused on the City of High Springs’ general fund, where staff outlined revenue sources, operating spending and personnel costs and answered commissioners’ questions.

Diane, a city staff member who led the presentation, told the commission that the general fund budget shown in the slides is roughly $7.5 million and that ad valorem (property) taxes account for about $3.4 million of that total. "This is a workshop, there's no voting required," Diane said, "ask questions, interrupt, whatever you need to know." She summarized other revenue sources including transfers from enterprise funds, state revenue sharing, franchise and utility taxes, fines and charges for services.

Diane said personnel costs were the largest single category in the general fund, and provided rounded figures: salaries of about $2.7 million, retirement contributions of about…