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Hampton manager previews FY09 plan: $444.3M total, spending growth held to under 2%
Summary
City Manager Jesse presented planning numbers for FY09 that hold city operations near flat while school spending rises; the manager said the budget assumes the current $1.06 tax rate and warned that any rate cut would require program reductions or use of nonrecurring funds.
City Manager Jesse on Monday presented the manager's recommended planning numbers for fiscal 2009, saying the total city-and-school budget in planning stages is about $444,261,000 and the overall increase is roughly $8.6 million (1.98%). "This is not a budget submission. None of these numbers are final," Jesse told the council and asked for feedback as staff finalizes the package.
Jesse said core city operating departments would see an aggregate increase of about $2.2 million (1.32%) and school expenditures would increase by about $10.7 million (5.22% of the combined plan), including an $8,000,000 rise in school expenditures derived from state, federal and miscellaneous sources and a $2.7 million increase in local contributions. He also told the council that debt service is expected to rise by about $4.7 million (19.8%).
The manager listed priorities he said staff included in the plan: utilities for the new teen center, continued support for the Boo Williams facility, funding for Channel 47 programming, partial funding for the fishing pier operations and creation of an internal audit function. Jesse also said the plan includes an average 3% salary increase for employees as an assumption for planning purposes.
Jesse cautioned the council that the recommended budget assumes the current real-estate tax rate (a dollar 6¢ per $100 of valuation). "To reduce the tax rate is gonna drive it in a further deficit position," he said, adding that the alternative would be cutting operations or using fund balance, which he said he would not recommend for recurring expenses. The council asked staff to model small-rate options (1¢, 2¢, 3¢) and show the service impacts, a request Jesse said staff would return with during final budget deliberations.
