Minutes 05/24/1977 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~82 TUESDAY MAY 24, 1977 (4) The Welfare Department proposed budget reflects a 7.5% local share increase over this year's revised estimate. If this budget holds true, it will mean that local welfare costs will have increased at a rate of only 3.6% per year since fiscal '75. Compare this to fiscal years '74 and '75 when the local cost of welfare went up 38~% per year. (5) The revised estimate of the General Fund reflects a July 1, 1977 opening balance of $580,860, a considerable improvement over June 30, 1974 when the General Fund had a $465,566 deficit. (6) The revised fiscal '77 estimate reflects that the profits of the Electric Department were greater than budgeted for the second year in a row. Compare this to fiscal '73 through '76, when the profits of the Electric Department were overestimated four years in a row and the Electric Department surplus dropped from $533,693 to $62,249. It is estimated that the Electric Department Surplus now stands at a healthy $935,000. I do want to mention here that Electric Department revenues were not achieved this year, but Mr. Corekin and Mr. Noland cut expenses and surpassed the profit objective. During the next several days, when Council studies the budget on a line- by-line basis, there are several points which I have questions about. Some of these questions are as follows: 1. Are the proposed additional employees necessary? 2. Has an adequate contingency account been left in the Electric Department due to uncertainties involved in the APCO retail rate hearings now before the SCC? 3. Have water connection fees, sewer connection fees and sewer service charges been overestimated? 4. Should Council delete all Revenue Sharing Funds this year from the operating budget? In conclusion, I think that the City Employees should be praised and adequately compensated for awareness of the city's financial problems the last several years, and their obvious efforts to hold budget requests down, and to spend less than budgeted. Deficits occur when people spend more than they take in. Surpluses occur when people take in more than they spend. Martinsville will avoid a tax increase this year because of a considerable surplus in the General Fund. And this happened because the City Administration and all City Employees did their job well. Mr. Thomas J. Womack, of 200 Fourth Street, appeared before Council and suggested that the reference in the minutes of Council's May 10th meeting, estimating the number of citizens