Perhaps you did not have the opportunity to listen to the Mayor's speech on the "State of the City" which was delivered on January 15, 2009.
A link to the text of that speech is included at the end of this post. However, here are some budgeting statements excerpted from the speech. I have highlighted several parts that apply directly to our budgeting:
"In terms of the City’s finances, these are quite challenging times for us nationally and locally, and Wheaton is not immune to the effects of the nation’s economic crisis. Since the Council passed the 2008-2009 budget in April, the City has been working to eliminate an estimated $4.2 million difference between expenditures and revenue in the General Fund. This is being achieved through expenditure reductions and also a planned increase in revenues.
The reasons for differential include
dramatic increases in costs for materials necessary to provide basic services that we have in town. The products
include asphalt, fuel and road salt. The cost of
asphalt rose 30 percent in one year. The price of
road salt skyrocketed 300 percent in that period. There’s also increased costs for personnel, including union contracts and unfunded mandates that we get from the state of Illinois.
There’s also been a decrease in revenue due to downturn in the economy. The City received less revenue from sales tax, less revenue from utility tax and less revenue from the real estate transfer tax. Taxes make up 84% of the City’s General Fund revenues.
The $4.2 million differential in the 2009-2010 budget will be addressed by reducing spending, such as the following. We will reduce spending for the annual road program, sidewalks, legislative services, employee recognition, vehicles and fuel consumption. There are personnel reductions. The City has a relatively small workforce, and a fewer employee-per-resident ratio than most communities our size. However, about 69% of General Fund expenditures relate directly to personnel costs. The reductions include eliminating open positions, also. "
Link to:
State of the City Speech, January 2009
WHEATON, Ill. – With topics ranging from Wheaton’s financial state, flooding and coyotes to the status of the long-anticipated Manchester/Wesley Street bridge reconstruction project, Wheaton Mayor Michael Gresk covered a lot of ground when discussing the state of the city yesterday at Arrowhead Golf Club.