by Miles Jung-Kilbreath
Reporter
Streetsboro -- The city's permanent budget for 2008 has been passed, but changes in the planning department may lead to amendments in the near future.
A week before the March 31 deadline, City Council unanimously passed the 2008 permanent $16 million city budget at a March 24 regular Council meeting.
Mayor Tom Wagner said Council will need to revisit the planning department budget later, because he has yet to hire a planning director and also may want to create an economic development position there, as well. He said while he has budgeted $58,633 for a director's salary out of the department's $147,903 budget, he expects the final salary may be more than that.
Wagner said he hopes to hire people for those positions "soon." The hiring of the director must be approved by Council and Council must approve the funding for other city positions.
Budget
'not set in stone'
The city has been operating on a temporary budget since Jan. 1. Finance Director Tanya Boyer's medical leave and the election of a new mayor and four new Council members have delayed approval of the permanent budget, according to Wagner.
"Our budget is not set in stone," Wagner said. "We will be adjusting it throughout the year."
The city spent $19.6 million in 2007, according to the 2008 budget. Gordon said the lower amount for the total budget this year comes from special projects in 2007 that included $2 million for waterline installation, $90,000 appropriated for legal fees and lower bond retirement payments in 2008.
The budget shows the city is expecting at least $5.3 million in income tax for 2008 after receiving around $5.1 million in 2007.
The general fund's planned expenditures for 2008 were increased by more than $107,000 during Council's budget discussions to $9.4 million. Some of the increases included $47,000 for city legal fees; $15,000 for hiring a part-time records clerk for the police department; $8,000 for 911 phone system maintenance; an additional $2,000 for the city's 2007 audit contract which will take place this year; and $1,500 for new two computers for the Civil Service Department.
Gordon said the city is "conservatively" estimating $8.6 million in revenue for the general fund and $15.1 million for the entire city budget. He said the nearly $1 million difference between appropriations and revenue will be made up by the city's $1.4 million overrun in the general fund from 2007.
E-mail:
mjung-kilbreath@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3942