Shoreline City Council members were presented with an overview of the 2008 budget Oct. 29 at the Shoreline Center.
Finance director Debbie Tarry introduced the city’s $93.9 million budget for 2008 and presented changes over 2007 in six different departments including community service, finance, parks, recreation and cultural services, planning and development services, police and public works.
“The budget layout is similar to what you’ve seen in previous years,” Tarry said, highlighting the most “significant changes” expected to occur in each department between 2007 and 2008.
According to Tarry, the 2008 budget includes two new part-time city positions referred to as an administrative assistant for the city’s community services division and a specialized recreation assistant.
The city’s cost for police service is expected to increase by 5.7 percent or by $476,900, she said, largely due to the addition of a street crimes officer midway through 2007 while the projected 6.1 percent increase in the city’s jail cost is less of an increase than in previous years. Tarry said that although the staff is hopeful a decrease in jail usage will continue to occur, a reduction in the budget cannot be made before a downward trend has been established.
The 2008 budget also includes $422,500 in one-time expenditures for expenses including a financial software upgrade, digital aerial photography of the city, Spartan Recreation Center Weight Room equipment and a storage unit for the parks department. The budget cycle also includes the first of three allocations to total $100,000 for the city’s acquisition of the Kruckeberg Botanic Garden in the amount of $45,000.
“I don’t know what grade level but it seems as simple as fourth grade,” resident LaNita Wacker said as she thanked Tarry for her presentation of the budget. “I look at your charts and I really understand them.”
Residents may comment on the proposed budget during formal public hearings at the Nov. 5 and the Nov. 19 council meetings at the Shoreline Center. The 2008 budget is slated for adoption by the council during the Nov. 26 meeting.
The budget presentation was informational and no action by the council was taken during the meeting. Copies of the budget are available for public view at City Hall, Neighborhood Police Centers, Shoreline and Richmond Beach Library and the Shoreline Police Department.
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