Minutes 03/31/1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 3t.1998 "WHAT IS PAST iS BACKLOG" During the difficult financial periods, as a result of the struggle to meet the most basic needs of our citizens, investments to reduce costs in the future were not made, and have created a backlog of needs. To paraphrase William Shakespeare: "What is past is backlog." A few simple examples will illustrate this backlog. The average age of the City's vehicle fleet is 12 years. The national average for a municipal fleet is 8 years. The estimated cost to bring our fleet up to the national average age is $7.5 million. The City maintains 1.5 million square feet of building space (not including schools). An estimated $16 million dollars is needed for the repair and replacement of roofs and removal of asbestos. The Public Works Department maintains 872 lane miles of street. At the current level of expenditures for repaving and reconstructing, the average cycle of repair is every 51 years. The average life of a street is actually, 20 years. · Salary increases for city employees have averaged 2% over the last 3 years and is below the average increases in the Hampton Roads cities. While the cost of routine and scheduled replacement and investment in preventive maintenance are more expensive in the short-term, the cumulative effects of this lack of funding increases the cost of maintenance on an annual basis and costs more in the long-term. As the City's financial condition improves, the backlog of needs must be addressed and poses particular budget challenges in aligning expenditures with our priorities. EXPENDITURES Prior to balancing this budget, I established basic priorities and guidi~ng principles. The priorities were to: · Meet existing obligations and commitments, · Provide an increase in school funding, · Provide a salary increase for City employees, · Begin addressing the backlog of equipment needs, And most importantly, to continue to provide the basic services expected iby our citizens. The budget posed a significant challenge in that before any department requests above the 1998 level of funding could be honored, $2.9 million in obligations and commitments must be covered by the projected increase ~ in general fund revenues of $4.6 million. These commitments included full funding for the Hampton Roads Regional Jail, debt service on bonds issued!in 1997 and increased operational costs for the Children's Museum of Virginia. In this budget recommendation, we must spend responsibly within the available, limited resources, as each of us must do in our own personal spending. In this presentation, a few initiatives will be highlighted that are included within this budget recommendation. The total city budget equals $294 million, with the schools representing 42% iof the total budget and the City's general fund at 31% of the consolidated budget. Of the City's general fund budget, 25% is a transfer to schools and 21% dedicated to public safety.