City Commission Concerned About “Pressure on the Budget”
Decatur Metro | June 21, 2010Before the final vote on the 2010-2011 budget at tonight’s Decatur City Commmission meeting, Mayor Bill Floyd began a conversation with his fellow commissioners about the projected long-term financial obligations of the city and what he continually referred to as “pressure on the budget.”
Spurred by recent concerns about proposals to take on additional debt for unfinished capital improvement projects like renovation of the Recreation Center, Public Works facility, Fire Station No. 1 and the Beacon Hill complex, Floyd asked the City Manager and Asst. Manager Andrea Arnold to project out costs for some of the city’s larger financial obligations, specifically the retirement fund, health insurance and pension payments to retired employees.
While Mayor Floyd originally asked that the projections be discussed over the next year, Commissioners Boykin and Baskett later suggested that the projections be delivered much sooner so the commission could consider future obligations prior to making decisions about incurring additional debt for the aforementioned capital improvement projects by the end of the calendar year.
Commissioner Patti Garrett added an additional request to that: a breakdown from the City Manager of how the 2006 bond fund money was allocated and how it has been spent. City Manager Merriss agreed to fulfill both the Mayor’s request for debt projections and incorporate Commissioner Garrett’s request in a document that would be available to the entire community in the next “few weeks”.