Friday, September 10, 2010

3 readings waived, budget approved

Ketchum OKs $13.3 million spending plan for fiscal 2011


By TREVON MILLIARD
Express Staff Writer

The Ketchum City Council waived the usual three readings and unanimously approved a spending plan for fiscal year 2011 on Tuesday, with no debate.

City Administrator Gary Marks said that at first sight, the $13.3 million budget seems to have reduced spending by 5 percent, or $757,000, compared to 2010. But 2010 spending included a one-time $691,000 in revenue from the Northwood Place housing development, causing the need for a budget amendment in May. That won't be repeated in 2011. Once this amount is deducted from the 2010 budget, 2011 will actually see only a 0.5 percent reduction in spending, still achieving the council's goal of maintaining a spending level at or near that of 2010.

Marks said a few notable changes have occurred since the council approved a tentative budget on Aug. 10. First of all, $10,000 in spending was added to the Local Option Tax Fund to support the Fly Sun Valley Alliance in its effort to start a valleywide club card program giving people—who purchase a $150 card—discounts at participating businesses. The alliance uses funding to support airline service to the valley. Marks said the LOT contingency fund was reduced to offset the change. The city of Sun Valley also gave $10,000 to the alliance.

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The second change was the elimination of two grants for the annual Wagon Days celebration that will not be received in 2011. The first is a $5,000 state grant and the second is a $6,000 wagon-restoration donation.

One of the biggest changes from 2010 to 2011 is that certain departments, such as the Fire Department and the Parks and Recreation Department, are no longer under the general fund. Marks said the point of that is to avoid the "use it or lose it" mentality of those departments. Instead of unused money reverting back to the general fund at the end of the year and slipping out of the departments' hands, it will stay in their own fund, promoting less spending instead of more.

As for local-option taxes, the city expects to collect $1.41 million during fiscal 2010, which ends Sept. 30, 4.5 percent less than originally budgeted. Marks said he expects the same LOT level next year, but added a 20 percent increase of $282,000 in case economic recovery begins.

Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com

Key budget items

- For the first time, Ketchum will collect local-option taxes from ski lift ticket sales at River Run, due to nearly 140 acres of Sun Valley Resort land there being annexed into the city for a base village, hotel and retail core. Estimated LOT revenue from this is $105,000 during the first season.

- The city will contribute $400,000 to the new marketing effort of Sun Valley Resort Area Marketing. The city of Sun Valley is doing the same.

- A one-time allocation of $200,000 will be used to repair East Avenue from First Street to Sixth Street during the fiscal year.




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