Council Amends 2011 Budget

City Of Farmington Deals With Sewer, Street, Drainage Expenses

FARMINGTON — The city of Farmington received more revenue than expected in 2011 because of the 2010 U.S. census but the net result of actual expenditures and actual income is that the city spent about $460,000 more than it took in for 2011, according to budget information presented at the Jan. 9 City Council meeting.

In all, the city exceeded its 2011 budget by $814,992 to pay for costs related to sewer, street and drainage projects and improvements to Creekside Park. Of this amount, $560,992 came from the street fund and $253,000 from the general fund, according to city Finance Director

“We do a good job managing our budget and our funds, but all of the extra expenditures were necessary for projects that our city needed to accomplish for the benefit of our citzens.”

Ernie Penn

Farmington Mayor

Jimmy Story.

The overruns were not due to the sports complex under construction, Story told the council.

On the revenue side, the city projected to receive $ 1,809,258 in 2011, and ended up receiving $ 2,159,456, $ 350,068 more than budgeted.

The council unanimously approved an ordinance at its Jan. 9 meeting to reconcile the expendi- tures and revenues for the 2011 city budget, as required by state law.

In August, the council voted to set aside $800,000 in the general fund reserve account to pay for recommended projects. Of this amount, $400,000 was set aside for street and drainage improvements and $400,000 designated for the sports complex. (The reserve funds for the sports complex have

not been spent yet but will be used in 2012.)

Following the meeting, Mayor Ernie Penn pointed out in an email that the items that caused the city to exceed its budget were approved by the city council, taken from city reserve funds and “in no way harmed our city's financial position.”

Penn wrote, “We do a good job managing our budget and our funds but all of the extra expenditures were necessary for projects that our city needed to accomplish for the benefit of our citizens.”

Public Works Director Dan Ledbetter said the majority of the costs for street and drainage improvements resulted from the record spring floods.

Projects were completed on Clyde Carnes, Flynn Road, Brown Street, North Hunter, Archie Watkins, Debbie Street and Rainsong (which is still under construction). The city also installed curb and gutter and sidewalks on Southwinds Drive.

“We did a lot of projects last year on streets but we accomplished a lot that had problems,” Ledbetter said. “These problems have been going on for years and needed attention. It fixed a lot of problems.”

Monday, Story pointed out that the city was able to complete some of these projects in 2011 because it has saved money in previous years.

“There's very few years that we've not been able to put money into savings at the end of the year,” Story said.

Story said the city's general fund reserve account now has a balance of $ 1.2 million and the city's street reserve fund only has $2,500.

“We're going to have to be very tight in 2012 because all our projected revenues have been budgeted,” Story told aldermen at the council meeting.

In other action on Jan. 9, the council accepted a low bid of $62,964 from Global Painting and Construction in Rogers for 12 dugouts at the new sports complex and approved rules for the complex, along with a “fan code of conduct.”

The council also gave its approval to allow engineer Geoffrey Bates to complete a design to alleviate flooding in Meadowsweet Subdivision but indicated it would have to continue further discussions on how to proceed because the project is estimated to cost $200,000.

“I can say we cannot commit $ 200,000 to this project,” Penn said. “There's no way.”

Bates said the Washington Water Authority is willing to give an easement to allow the city to install a large concrete box culvert under Garland Mckee Road to help with drainage in the area.

Residents approached the council during the summer asking for help because of flooding issues.

The subdivision was annexed into the city in early 2008.

Penn pointed out that Wa s h i n g ton Co u n ty designed the drainage plans for Meadowsweet Subdivision and “to make a long story short, we're now the proud owners of that because we annexed that property in.”

One idea is to approach the county about sharing the costs to improve the drainage, Penn said.

“I'm not saying the county is at fault but it's not working and they might be willing to help us with it since it's the county's design,” Penn told the council.