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| 12/10/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | City passes $25M budget
Officials will trim 2010 expenses in response to economic downturn
Cortez City Council unanimously approved a budget of $25.825 million Tuesday night to fund municipal operations in 2010.
The 2010 city budget is an approximately $55,000 reduction from the 2009 revised budget, $25.88 million, which councilors also approved Tuesday. City Manager Jay Harrington said the slight decline is mainly a reflection of tougher economic times.
"We're managing expenses and anticipating our revenue numbers to stay flat," Harrington said. "(City) government is not giving at the same rates it did in the past."
A "salary hold" is in place in 2010 for Cortez employees, who typically receive a 2 to 7 percent annual raise based on a merit or performance-based system, Harrington said.
The city is not considering furlough days for employees. However, councilors will consider scaling back jobs when vacancies come up in 2010, Harrington said. Cortez has approximately 130 full-time employees.
City councilors passed the 2010 budget without input or discussion from the audience during a public hearing. The budget includes about $11.3 million in general-fund expenditures, a decrease of nearly $500,000 from last year.
Most of the general-fund decrease comes from the elimination of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant, Harrington said. The Cortez Police Department has cut its homeland security and emergency management position to help trim spending.
Harrington said the homeland security operation is being transferred to another government entity within the area, possibly the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.
"It's on a rotating basis every few years," he said.
The city's general fund accounts for the majority of salaries and benefits of city employees, spending in the public works department, municipal court, public events and the Cortez Police Department, among other services. Street improvements, new equipment and a Cortez Recreation Center bond repayment are also funded through the general fund.
An estimated $9.1 million of the general fund will come from city sales-tax revenue, according to Kathi Moss, the city's finance director. That number is steady to the 2009 sales-tax amount. Cortez's sales tax is approximately 4 cents per dollar.
In 2010, the city will purchase a new street sweeper, a golf course electric runabout, an administration car for the police department and a parks and recreation lawn mower, Harrington said.
Additionally, Cortez plans to complete construction of a micro-hydroelectric plant at its water treatment plant. Construction of the hydroelectric plant is funded by a $500,000 grant and approximately $1.4 million in loan funds.
Councilors also on Tuesday set the city's 2010 mill levy at 1.035 mills, which is an "across-the-board" figure for residential and commercial property. Next year's mill levy is a decline of the 2009 mark of 1.232, and the city expects revenues to decrease in 2010, according to Moss.
The city must calculate its mill levy via its charter, in addition to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and state statutes, Moss said.
"(We selected) the result that is the most restrictive, which in this case was the 5.5 percent property tax revenue limit set by state statute," Moss said.
She explained that a residential or commercial property assessed at $100,000 would pay the city $135 per the 2010 mill levy.
Other business from Tuesday's meeting included setting a public hearing for the creation of a new city planning and building department. The new office would be a division of public works and have a department head who would report to the city manager. A public hearing was set for the city's next regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12, 2010, at City Hall, 210 E. Main St., Cortez.
The city is considering a new law to limit city medical marijuana shops to commercial zoning districts, and have stores be located at least 500 feet from city public schools, day-care centers, pre-schools, private-charter schools and dedicated public parks.
A new ordinance would also make it illegal for medical marijuana shops to be home occupations. Councilor Matt Keefauver said the proposal could be viewed as similar to limiting liquor stores in the downtown business district. The council slated a public hearing on the proposed ordinance during its next regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12.
Southwest Colorado Mental Health Center was awarded an application Tuesday night for a conditional-use permit and site development plan for a new integrated care and outpatient medical facility at 635 E. Empire St., Cortez.
On the Net: www.cityofcortez.com.
Reach Steve Grazier at steveg@cortezjournal.com.
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