For the week of August 20 - 26, 2003

Sun Valley approves $5.4 million budget

With LOT flat, expenditures rise 3 percent

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Sun Valley City Council members Thursday, Aug. 14, unanimously approved an approximately $5.4 million budget for the 2003-2004 fiscal year, endorsing a 3 percent increase in expenses over the current fiscal year.

After a brief public hearing, the panel voted 4-0 to adopt and publish a spending plan that will allocate $3,010,972 through the city’s general fund and $2,429,356 through other city funds.

The city’s capital improvement fund for the 2003-2004 fiscal year comprises $1,020,000, all of which is earmarked for improvements to the city’s roads. Improvement projects are planned for Elkhorn Road, Old Dollar Road, Camas Loop Road and the Old Dollar Road Bridge.

The increased spending in the 2003-2004 budget will come in part from a 2-percent "cost of living" salary increase the city plans to grant to its employees.

The budget also includes $50,000 for the city to pay for a rewrite of the Sun Valley Comprehensive Plan. Mayor David Wilson had requested the funding to rewrite the plan so it will work cohesively with a 50-year master plan Sun Valley Co. is expected to bring before the city next month.

Other expenditures in the approved budget include:

·  Approximately $457,000 for debt service, a substantial decrease from the $661,000 for debt service in the current budget.

·  Approximately $875,000 for the city street fund. That fund includes $30,000 for improvements to and maintenance of the city’s five-acre parcel along Sun Valley Road.

·  Just over $705,000 for the city police department, down approximately $20,000 from the amount budgeted for the current fiscal year.

·  Approximately $337,000 for the city fire department, down from $363,000 budgeted this year.

The city has estimated that it will receive $1,120,500 in revenues from local option taxes, the same amount the city anticipated this year. Wilson has said the city is employing conservative LOT revenue estimates to ensure city expenditures do not exceed overall revenues.

The 2002-2003 fiscal year budget, finalized last September, was set at approximately $5.2 million.

 

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