Council considers fiscal 2010 budget

Springfield City Council held a public hearing Monday night on the proposed city budget for 2009-10.

The total proposed budget is $273.7 million, including $71.4 million in general fund revenue. City Finance Director Mary Mannix Decker said city staff had to cut $5.7 million from the budget, largely because sales tax revenue is expected to be flat next year.

Cuts came in the form of a hiring freeze in place since January that left 90 city jobs open, saving about $1 million; the elimination of all step pay increases and cost-of-living allowance increases; and continued cuts to the city's general fund transfers to the parks, health and transportation departments, which also saves about $1 million.

The city also plans to make the full actuarial recommended contribution to the Police and Fire Pension Fund - a contribution that for next year will reach $13 million.

Mannix Decker said the city does expect to see an increase in its gross receipts tax, due mostly to resumed telecommunications tax payments from AT&T, but that money is being used to fill some of the frozen positions in the Police and Fire departments.

Not all the revenue news was bad at the meeting. City Manager Greg Burris noted that the sales tax check the city received in May was up 2.45 percent from last year, though the city is still down 2.43 percent for the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Mannix Decker said that while sales tax seems to have stabilized over the last three months, the city still anticipates flat sales tax revenue for next year.

"Our largest sales tax check comes in June, so we'll know how we look in the middle of next month," she told council.

No members of the public spoke about the budget. Council could vote on it at the June 1 meeting.See SBJ's May 25 issue for more City Council news.