The final numbers are in for Shoreline’s 2002 budget and the city did much better than most, according to Debbie Tarry, city finance director.
In fact, so much better that the City Council was able to appropriate an additional $1.5 million to four projects this year and still salt away $8.2 million as a reserve from 2002, Tarry told Council members at their March 24 meeting where she presented the 2002 fourth-quarter and year-end reports.
The good financial news comes on both sides of the ledger, Tarry said.
Actual revenues for 2002 were $26.4 million, 3.7 percent above the budgeted amount. Most of the increase, $901,327, came from utility taxes and utility franchise fees.
For example, telephone and cell phone taxes brought in $357,608 more than projected for the year, according to her report. The city also got an unanticipated bump of $241,706 in the electricity franchise fee paid by City Light and $294,860 more in the sewer franchise fee.
In other categories, Tarry said revenue was mostly flat. The gambling tax was almost $2.7 million, just $830 more than projected. Property taxes were 0.9 percent and sales tax revenue was just 0.3 percent over projections. The biggest increase in these other categories was under the heading of fines and forfeitures, $45,852 over budget. Tarry said that revenue comes primarily from traffic infraction fees.
On the expense side, the city spent $24.09 million, 8 percent less than budgeted.
Major areas of savings, Tarry said, came in the city’s jail contract, police contract and parks department expenditures.
Jail services cost $239,981 less than budgeted, mainly due to 15 percent fewer misdemeanor bookings and 34 percent fewer misdemeanor jail days, according to Tarry’s report.
The city spent $173,158 less on police after some bookkeeping adjustments on the 2001 costs.
The parks department cut costs by 5 percent, $164,946, while bringing in $62,835 more than budgeted.
Also, delays in starting the Aurora Corridor project and drainage projects at Ronald Bog and Third Avenue NW mean about $4 million in capital funds weren’t spent but that money is carried forward to this year.
All of that added up to about $1.5 million available for the Council to aim at four projects, including:
• $1.25 million for the North City Business District/15th Avenue NE Corridor project.
• $220,00 for parking lot and frontage improvements at Paramount School Park.
• $75,000 to complete mapping of the Central Shoreline Subarea right-of-way.
• $20,500 to replace the water heating coil at Shoreline Pool.
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