First quarter report reflects
growth
Hailey departments show revue
increases
"The city budgeted $96,000 in
refuse revenue for the year, but revenues could be as high as $120,000
by year’s end as the spring construction season ramps up. (Construction
waste) dumpsters fill up when construction is busy."
— HEATHER DAWSON, Hailey
city clerk
By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer
For the first quarter of fiscal
year 2003, October through December, the City of Hailey has reported
expenses at or below projected costs, while revenues in several
departments showed heightened activity.
The quarterly financial report on
the $9.6 million city budget was approved Monday, Jan. 9, by the Hailey
City Council.
Although local property tax
revenue has increased only 3 percent over 2002, revenues in development
related categories are up significantly. Despite dramatic increases in
property values within Hailey over the past year, state law caps the
amount of increased revenues cities can obtain from property taxes.
However, changes across the board from the previous year indicate demand
for growth in the city.
The most dramatic change for the
quarter was the increase in development application fees in the city’s
planning department. Total fees paid for the quarter were $23,202, up
$14,786 for the same quarter last year. The current income is already 16
percent more than the $20,000 in development fee revenues projected for
the year.
The fire department is on schedule
for projected new construction fire permit revenues in the first
quarter. The department has received $150 of the projected $600 fee
budget. Last year at this time the fund had only $65 in it, and big
construction months are still ahead, said Hailey City Clerk Heather
Dawson.
Other revenue categories that are
directly impacted by the time of year are property tax revenues and
income from the rubbish franchise with Wood River Rubbish.
Property tax revenues for the
quarter have reached only 10 percent of what is projected for the year,
but Dawson said most homeowners make large payments in January and July,
when the tally should bring revenues in line with projections. Property
taxes are expected to be $1.4 million or 19 percent of the annual
budget.
Individual monthly trash bills
have decreased about 50 cents with the new franchise the city negotiated
last April, but revenues for the quarter were $31,000 up from $13,000 in
the same quarter last year.
"A heavier than expected fall
construction season was probably responsible for the increase," Dawson
said. "The city budgeted $96,000 in refuse revenue for the year, but
revenues could be as high as $120,000 by year’s end as the spring
construction season ramps up. (Construction waste) dumpsters fill up
when construction is busy."
Building permit revenues were
already 43 percent of projected revenues for the year in the first
quarter according to the report and up $35,000 from $51,000 in the first
quarter of 2002 to $86,000 for the first quarter of 2003.
Water and Sewer hookups are one
third of projections for the year and also significantly higher than
2002, but Dawson said the slower winter months could result in utility
connection fees matching projections for the year.
A final indicator from the first
quarter report of growth trends in the city was the dramatic increase in
sign permit fees. In the first quarter the city had already received 100
percent of projected $400 annual revenues, an increase of nearly $280
from the same period last year.