Porterville council set to consider 2009-10 budget

City leaders during a meeting Tuesday will be asked to approve a modified budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

Members of the community will have a chance to weigh in on the proposed budget during a public hearing scheduled prior to adoption.

The proposed budget shows $75.5 million in revenue against $87.3 million in spending.

The General Fund portion of the proposed budget shows $23.6 million in revenue and transfers against nearly $25 million in spending for a cash deficit of $1.3 million and a structural deficit of $209,000.

The General Fund pays for basic city services such as police and fire protection, and general city government.

Various cash reserve accounts total more than $12.4 million.

Several components of the proposed preliminary budget have been modified, according to a staff report prepared for Tuesday’s public hearing:

-- Golf Course Fund operating expenditures decreased $6,393 from $391,748 to $385,355 due to reductions in the estimated vehicle and other equipment maintenance.

-- The addition of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectometry instrument in the amount of $90,000 for the city laboratory. The current equipment will become obsolete in April 2010 and will require replacement.

-- The Off-Highway Vehicle Improvement Grant has been approved for $56,000 less than requested, from $920,000 to $864,000. Accordingly, the city’s match funds should be increased by $56,000 to $330,000 from $274,000, the cost difference to complete the project.

-- About $191,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds should be identified as the Heritage Center Trailway Extension Project, not Rails to Trails tree planting.

-- The addition of $40,000 to the Fairway Tract Water Project, initially funded by the Water Reserve Fund and to be reimbursed by the Fairway Tract State grant/loan.

City staff members are also recommending that the council accept a California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank 30-year water loan in the amount of nearly $6.8 million at an interest rate of 3.84 percent.

The loan will pay for the design and construction of five water-related projects: Martin Hill Three Million Gallon Steel Reservoir with piping and pump station, Veterans Park Booster Pump Station, the Morton Avenue Water Trunkline Project, Mathew Street Water Trunkline Project and Well 31, Phase 2 Project.

If the city continues using water-replacement funds to construct water projects, meter fees will have to be raised by about $1.50 per meter per month for most single-family accounts, according to a staff report prepared for Tuesday’s meeting.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 291 N. Main St.

-- Contact Alex K.W. Schultz at 784-5000, Ext. 1045.