Revenues from Sun Valley's local-option taxes are coming in at better-than-expected amounts, providing a bit of good news in an otherwise down economy.
LOT revenues are estimated to exceed the current fiscal 2010-11 budget amount by $200,000.
"That's a substantial amount of money," Mayor Wayne Willich said. "Year-to-date we're sitting at about 8 percent over what we budgeted."
At a special meeting on Thursday, Sept. 1, the City Council approved a fiscal 2011 tentative budget amendment to reflect the new figures. The amendment takes the LOT collection numbers and reconciles them with what was projected.
Numbers must be reconciled as closely as possible in a final budget by the end of each fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The council's final regular meeting before that date will be on Thursday, Sept. 15.
Though LOT numbers for July are still being tallied, that month looks to be up 16 percent from July 2010. The exact number won't be available until later this month.
"The month of August is going to be very high also," Willich said.
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In other council action Thursday:
- The council passed a new bond election ordinance to lower the original $14,250,000 general--obligation bond amount to a maximum of $14,150,000. The bond would pay for streets and paths improvements, and partially pay for a new aerial-tower fire truck that would be owned jointly with Ketchum.
"We polished and scrubbed $100,000 out of the bond request," Willich said.
The new ordinance repealed the previous ordinance that contained the higher amount.
( The mayor and council interviewed three firms to serve in an educational role for the bond issue. Strategies 360, Gallatin Public Affairs and Veritas Advisors made presentations; Strategies 360 was selected for the job.
"They just gave me a good feeling," Willich said Friday. "This group seemed to be the most agile. We have a short time period here. They impressed me with their ability to move quickly."
The city will pay up to $15,000 for the firm's outreach work, plus printing, advertising and other costs. According to state law, the work can be informational only, not persuasive.
Rebecca Meany: rmeany@mtexpress.com
