The Plattsburgh Common Council’s Finance and Budget Committee provided an overview of the city’s finances and an update on its five-year budget plan during its monthly meeting Thursday night.
Over the past year, the city of Plattsburgh has eliminated four departments and cut positions as it tries to close a budget gap. First-term Mayor Colin Read implemented a five-year budget planning process and the council formed a Finance and Budget Committee to get the city’s finances on track.
Committee chair Ward 2 Councilor Mike Kelly offered graphs comparing 2017 to progress in 2018. He noted that for the first time, the recreation department showed a net profit in 2017, which he attributes to consolidation into Community Development department. “If you look at the revenues we’ve got 1.1 million budgeted. If you look at the actual revenues it was 1.19, so a little bit better. The expenditures were very close also. But the fact that we have a net profit indicates that our plan of consolidation worked at least for that particular department. We did manage to save some money. That was good news.”
As the council considers updating the budget for 2019, Kelly reports the fund balance is about $263,000. “This is the first time in six years that our city government has ended the year in the black. We have plans as you know to try to repeat that performance this year. We’re shooting for a fund balance at the end of the year to total about $800,000, next year $1.5 million. So those are all ambitious but we have a plan before us and we can do that.”
Kelly reported that in 2017 each city department met or exceeded budget and revenue goals. So far in 2018, revenues are lower, but the city only starts receiving tax payments in March. While there was nearly $2 million in cost-cutting last year, Kelly says more reductions are needed. “We simply do not have the capital to invest to create a lot of revenue generating projects. If you look at the year 2019 we’re looking to cut a million dollars and where’s that million dollars going to come from? We’re all afraid to discuss that. We have to decrease the size of our government, that’s what we have to do. It won’t come from anywhere else.”
Ward 5 Councilor Patrick McFarlin was curious how potential variables could impact the budget. “How do the numbers change if the number for the property tax base increase stays at point-nine going forward instead 1.84? Does that drastically change our numbers?”
Kelly: “Well it would mean that we have less revenue. Let’s say we come up 1 percent short just for the easy math. We have $11 million, we come up 1 percent short, so that will be $110,000 less that we would have to spend to make up for that.”
An update of the city’s five-year budget plan will begin in April which is targeted for completion by June 1st.
