By Patrick Yost
Editor

    The Rutledge City Council Thursday held its first public hearing regarding its proposed 2010 general fund and water budgets.

    On the general fund the city is projecting revenue collections of $421,930, a decrease from 2009’s $423,422 revenue mark. The city is projecting decreases in it’s general sales and use tax revenue, dropping from $155,000 in 2008 to a projected $147,000 in 2010. The council also expects reductions funds collected from alcohol beverage taxes, down from $23,500 in 2009 to $20,500 in 2010 and reductions in fines and forfeitures and real estate transfer taxes.

    While general sales and use taxes provide the largest single revenue line item, the council is projecting to collect $81,500 from ad valorem property taxes, matching the 2009 level.
    On the expense side of the general fund budget, the city is projecting to spend $421,930 to operate. This includes a $57,400 revenue transfer to the city’s water and sewer fund to balance the utility’s annual budget.
    The council has also earmarked $43,900 to fund continued construction of it’s growing parks and recreation areas. In 2009 the city budgeted $35,000 for parks and recreation but as of Thursday had spent $20,000 in that department.

    Salaries, at $63,099 are the highest single expense in the city’s 2010 projected budget, matching the same number allocated for salaries in 2009. Other expenditures include $15,600 earmarked for replacement and maintenance of the city’s fire hydrants, $21,500 for utility expense, $36,000 for garbage expense, $19,125 for contingencies and $15,000 for emergency storm drain maintenance.

    In the city water and sewage fund, the council is projecting revenues of $335,925 for 2010, down from a projected $340,805 in 2009. Water and sewage fees totaling $212,250 are the primary source of revenue for the water and sewage fund. Citing a slow economy, the council dropped projected revenues for tap–on fees from $10,000 in 2009 to $5,000 in 2010. According to a budget worksheet reviewed by the council, the city has collected $2,067 in water tap–on fees in 2009.

    On the expense side the water and sewage fund’s largest expense is salaries at $40,066 followed by a $40,000 water purchase contract with the City of Madison, $34,000 in contract labor, $38,573 in debt service, $30,000 in capital outlays, $20,250 in water line maintenance and $25,500 in sewage line maintenance.

    The budget does not propose any new water or sewage rate increases for the year. In fact, said city council member Tom Strott, the water and sewage fund continues to operate in the red. To make the department profitable, Strott said, would entail a rate hike. “We’d have to raise our rates to a prohibitive level,” he said.
    Currently the city has approximately $250,000 in certificates of deposit.

    The next budget hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at city hall. One citizen was in attendance at last week’s hearing.