The 2018 Draft Budget of the City of Salida was revised before being finalized and approved by the new council on December 19, 2017. Planned expenditures were canceled or deferred to future years to prevent further depletion of general fund reserves as occurred in 2017.
The 2017 Budget of the City of Salida, which is on the City’s website, shows a Deficiency of Revenues Under Expenditures for the year 2017 of $2,558,450 (at the top of pdf page 14, budget general fund page 5). The budget also shows that across all but two small funds, the city would be spending more than it has. In the proposed 2018 budget that was posted on the City’s website in October of 2017, the deficiency was redistributed across more than one fund and partially into 2018, leaving a 1.15 million dollar deficiency in the general fund. The deficiency is largely due to over-budgeting for streets, which was intended to be a one-time occurrence, and which the City Administrator has said would be unsustainable. (See YouTube Video of 10/17/2016 Council meeting at 0:29 to 0:47).
The elected city council that took office on November 21, 2017, set out to review the proposed 2018 budget with a goal of making it more fiscally sound and sustainable going forward. A goal was to reduce $1.4 million in budgeted expenditures in excess of income. A public hearing on the subject was opened at the November 21, 2017 council meeting (YouTube video at 0:45:00 to 0:58:20). The budget was then reworked by city staff and a revised Draft 2018 Budget was discussed by City Council at its work session of December 4, 2017 (YouTube video at 2:13:40 to 2:33:20) and in a continued public hearing at the regular council meeting of December 5, 2017 (YouTube video at 0:24:00 to 0:34:15). Final action on it was taken by Council at the regular council meeting of December 19, 2017.
Changes to the 2018 draft budget made by Council included eliminating two planned new positions, one to the Fire Department and one to the Police Department, eliminating or postponing Police Department and parking lot remodeling projects and a planned parking study. Relocation of the recycling center was also was also ruled out for 2018.
The 2019 Budget was adopted by Council on December 18, 2018, and it follows the plan bring the budget into a sustainable range.