Farmington revenue, expenses higher than budgeted

FARMINGTON — The city received about $5.2 million in revenue in 2020, exceeding its budgeted income for the year by more than $600,000 or 13.4%, according to the amended budget approved by the City Council last week.

The Feb. 22 meeting, held through the Zoom video/ audio app, started about 15 minutes late because most council members weren’t able to join through the Zoom link. It was finally decided to have council members join the meeting using their cell phones.

The amended budget shows actual revenue and actual expenditures for the year 2020.

“That budget looks fantastic,” Mayor Ernie Penn said after the meeting. “Everything we did expense wise, we paid out of the budget without going into reserves, and we still had $140,000 left over.”

The city had expected to use reserve to help pay for about $850,000 in expenses for expansions at the police department and library and to purchase a house in Meadowsweet Subdivision for a major drainage project.

The city was able to pay for those commitments without using any reserve funds, Penn said.

The largest increases from budgeted revenue to actual revenue came from areas that included city and state sales tax collections and building inspection fees.

The city was projected to receive $1,350,000 from its city sales tax collection and had actual receipts of $1,863,692. It expected to take in $1.2 million from the state sales tax but received $1,371,621. For building inspection fees, the city budgeted $100,000 and received $242,000 in actual fees.

The amended budget shows that the city did not have to transfer $650,000 from the general reserve fund into the general budget for 2020.

The city budgeted $4,458,063 for expenses in 2020. Actual expenses for 2020 were just over $5 million, a 14% increase.

Departments over budget included the fire department, which had a budget of $607,000 and spent $696,000, a 16.6% increase, according to the amended budget.

According to city business manager Melissa McCarville, additional expenses for the fire department included $27,000 to update the sleeping quarters to provide separation for covid-19 concerns; $15,000 for new hose; $48,000 was an overage in payroll to cover leave related to covid and some paternity leave.

The administration department was over budget $525,572, from an approved budget of $990,000 to actual expenses of $1.5 million, a 53% increase.

In an email, McCarville said these additional expenses included $276,900 to purchase the house at Meadowsweet Subdivision, $21,500 for a new phone system and $8,000 for a new fire alarm system at City Hall because of the police department expansion, an additional $100,000 in engineering fees for projects and infrastructure inspections by Olsson Inc., $6,000 to upgrade the audio system in the council room to accommodate Zoom meetings, a $50,000 transfer to the debt service account.

The parks budget was over by $34,000, mainly to pay $27,000 for an irrigation system for the sports complex.

For the street department, the city received $774,819 in revenue in 2020, compared to its budgeted revenue of $648,045. The amended budget shows that the city did not have to transfer $200,000 from the street reserve fund, as projected. Income for the year included a $268,550 grant, $451,000 from state turnback funds and $54,770 from county turnback funds.

The street department spent almost $707,000 in 2020, compared to budgeted expenses of $648,045, a difference of about $57,000, according to the 2020 amended budget. Some of the additional expenses included new equipment and professional services related to the project to widen Highway 170, according to McCarville.

In other action, the council approved:

• A proposal for engineering services with Earthplan Design Alternatives of Bentonville to help develop a parks plan for the city. The firm’s scope of services will include a project kickoff and inventory, a master plan, studies on funding for parks, ordinance update and a parks plan document.

• An ordinance to vacate city right-of-way for the Hamblem Subdivision. City Attorney Steve Tennant explained the subdivision was accepted by the council in May 1969 and the right-of-way dedicated to the city in June 1969. The subdivision was not developed and will not be developed, Tennant said. The ordinance vacates right-of-way on lots 13, 14 and 15 to Shane and Jeanine Miller and vacates right-of-way on lots 16-19 to Daniel and Donna Ramsfield. No one from the public made any comments about this during a public hearing held on the request to vacate.

• A resolution in support of an application for a Local Law Enforcement Block Grant. The grant, if received, will be used to purchase three electronic tablets for police vehicles, said Chief Brian Hubbard.