Road To Recovery
Council approves budget for remainder of FY
After a really rough start to the year, the City of Porterville presented the Council with a projected budget it approved for the year after projecting the costs the city will incur in relation to the impacts COVID-19 had on the city’s revenues.
City Manager John Lollis presented the budget to the Council on Tuesday night, and explained after having to push the budgetary process back due the library fire, the onset of COVID-19, and the new guidelines the pandemic brought with it at the beginning of the year, approving a 20202021 fiscal year (FY) budget was postponed until Tuesday night.
Lollis explained how the budget has been impacted since February.
“We were having a very good year as we entered into February,” said Lollis. “Things kind’ve flattened out. Measure H was doing well above projections, and Measure I was up as well.”
Using estimates generated by the city for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the projected General Fund revenue is $26,792,038, with expenditures amounting in $29,671,688, leaving the General Fund in a deficit of $2,879,650.
While this might sound bad, Lollis explained through the conservative nature of the city, and with plenty of money in the General Fund reserve funds, the city can cover the deficit that would be incurred during the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The city currently has a General Fund reserve fund that totals just more than $17 million.
The General Fund reserve funds break down as $7.5 million for equipment replacement, $4.3 million for budget stabilization, $2.6 million in catastrophic/emergency funds, $1.1 million for facility deferred maintenance, $1.1 million for infrastructure improvement and $500,000 for capital improvement.
Another way the Coun
cil could cover the deficit is to use funds reserved from Measure I. Measure I reserves can cover up to $2 million, with the remainder of the deficit being covered by a four percent city savings.
One of the Council’s top priorities, as explained by Lollis, is the improvement of city streets. The City is projected to complete $12 million in street projects during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, including the now ongoing Henderson Avenue project. Other priority projects included in the city budget, as previously determined by the City Council, include $17 million for a wastewater tertiary treatment facility, $2 million for a new animal shelter facility, $900,000 for interim and new library facilities, $5,000 for a youth leadership development program and $70,000 for welcome signs along State Route 65 and Highway 190.
With a projected $12 million estimated to be used to improve local streets, Lollis broke down a few of the projects the Council considered a priority. Roughly $3.12 million will go to work from Olive to Morton Avenue, $2.9 million will go to Westwood Street to Paty Street, $2.84 million is going to 2nd Street to Plano Street and $2.14 is going to Jaye Street to Indiana Street on Henderson, and $1.22 million will go to 4th Street to Plano Street. Lollis also explained five other street improvement projects are in the design phase.
Other capital projects outlined in the budget include the Stout Building rehabilitation and parking lot estimated at $680,000, public safety department storage estimated at $145,000, Fire Department SART recommendations estimated for $100,000, and fire department vehicle preemption estimated at $65,000.
State funded projects that are still occurring locally include the East Porterville Water Con
nection Project, State Route 190 improvements, Phase III of the Tule River Parkway and Butterfield Stage Corridor improvements.
At 11:26 p.m., Mayor Martha Flores opened the public hearing to allow for any feedback the public may have had. There were no comments made.
After the public hearing was closed, Council member Virginia Gurrola asked if the Council would consider allocating funds for promoting tourism along Highway 190, which was agreeable among the rest of the council.
“The additional funds would assist us in advertising, not just Porterville, but all of our mountain areas, all the way up to Trail of 100 Giants,” said Gurrola.
A motion was made to approve the 2020-2021 fiscal year budget, with the addition of $15,000 to be put towards promoting local tourism, and to not use reserves to cover the projected deficit but instead use Measure I reserves. The motion was approved 5-0.