Kalispell City Council: Budget problems continue
The Daily Inter Lake
The city of Kalispell's budget outlook continues to spiral downward.
The City Council will take another look at it tonight in anticipation on making some cuts Dec. 15. Today's 7 p.m. meeting is a workshop session at which no votes are legally allowed.
Kalispell's general fund is in a major crisis because expected revenues have not materialized.
The city has a $10.654 million 2008-'09 general-fund budget - the only place with wiggle room in Kalispell's overall $52 million budget.
The city's cash reserves were roughly $474,000 in September. A rule of thumb is that a city of Kalispell's size should have at least $1 million - and preferably $1.5 million - in cash reserves.
A few weeks ago, the decreased revenues meant that the only way to stick to a $10.654 million general-fund budget would be to allow the cash reserves to drop to practically zero.
In late November, the council told Interim City Manager Myrt Webb to trim all possible non-personnel costs and to update the council monthly on the budget situation.
In a memo this month, Webb wrote that today's general-fund situation looks like this:
. By cutting many administrative costs, the general-fund's expenses could be reduced to $10.555 million.
. At the same time, the $474,000 in cash reserves would drop to about $258,000.
. The city is spending general-fund money faster than it is receiving income for the fund.
"It is difficult to predict how far into [fiscal 2009-'10] the general fund will last. The lockdown on hiring and capital expenditures cannot last indefinitely," Webb wrote.
About 80 percent of the general fund covers personnel costs - with firefighters and Police Department employees accounting for the biggest share. During recent council meetings, police and firefighters turned out in significant numbers to plead against trimming their forces, arguing that public safety will be greatly hurt.
Also tonight, the council will discuss how to tackle the downtown's need for extra parking.