Daunting task begins to balance Danville budget

Danville City Manager Joe King will spend the next 50 days creating a balanced 2013 budget, according to a briefing he gave Danville City Council on Monday night.

The meeting — the third pre-budget meeting King scheduled with City Council members — was set up to ask them for guidance in determining whether the budget should be balanced by tax increases, service reductions or a combination of both.

King pointed out that the purpose of the meeting was not to give any “advance approval” of the budget — City Council will still get the normal 80 days to go over the proposed budget once it becomes public, get public feedback and make final determinations on any changes it wants to make.

King said there is an expected $1.9 million shortfall in the city’s budget, before considering any help it can offer Danville City Schools with its anticipated $5 million deficit. The shortfalls are a result of state and federal funding cuts.

King recommended waiting to consider any property tax increases until the school board gets final word from the state on exactly how drastic their cuts will be.

Among other cost-cutting measure, King plans to:

» impose a cigarette tax;

» increasing the amount of money the electric and gas funds transfer to the general fund;

» apply non-resident fees for city services used by non-residents, including library services;

» aggressively pursuing property and personal tax delinquencies;

» closing the Westover Branch Library;

» reducing community centers’ operating hours;

» converting some under-used community parks into green spaces by removing any playground equipment and benches so they will require only occasional mowing; and

» searching for reductions in general government operations.

Councilman Fred Shanks stressed that he feels the city should go into austerity mode, with all projects undertaken recently being prioritized over a three-year period and all departments checked for any cuts that could be made.

“Ranking priorities for a two-three year period would be extremely helpful in projecting expenses forward for several years and could assist us in discussing what programs could be reduced, delayed or eliminated,” Shanks said, noting that any additional tax burden will be hard on “businesses and citizens who are just hanging in there, trying to get through these tough times.”

Councilman Gary Miller said he agrees that delinquent taxes should be collected aggressively before taxpayers are asked to pay any more taxes.

One other item King said he wants to eliminate is a long-time transfer from the general fund to the water fund for fire hydrant rentals.

Deputy City Manager David Parrish said Wednesday that this is a long-time line item that transfers about $220,000 annually from the general fund to the water fund that was originally set up to recommence the water department for maintaining what is considered a “public good item.”

“We shouldn’t burden the general fund with it,” Parrish said, though he did admit it will have a budget impact on the water fund. “Our concern this year is the general fund.”