Prairie Grove Council Passes 2016 Budget

PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove City Council approved the city’s 2016 budget at its December meeting, with the city projecting to take in more than $1 million for its general fund.

Aldermen, on Dec. 21, also approved an ordinance to increase City Council compensation from $30 per meeting to $50 per meeting. The compensation for Council members has not been increased since the 1980s.

Numbers were tweaked from a preliminary 2016 budget because revenues have been higher than expected in 2015. Revenue from the city’s portion of the county sales tax is up by 4 percent this year and local sales tax revenues are up by more than 5 percent for the year.

Still, city officials have been fairly conservative in estimating revenue for 2016, said Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services and public works.

“We tend to underestimate on purpose,” Oelrich said.

The budget projects the city will receive $1 million in revenue for the general fund from income that comes through the administration department, including $254,000 from property taxes, $228,000 from county sales tax, $ 260,000 from franchise taxes and $75,000 from building permits and licenses.

Projected expenses for the administration department are $601,297, including $132,000 for salaries, $95,000 for bonds and insurance, $55,000 for legal expenses and $ 59,000 for utilities, $50,000 for fire and police pension contributions and $50,000 for repairs and maintenance.

Budgets for other departments in the general fund are police, $672,836; parks and recreation, $250,050; library, $157,404.

The fire department’s budget increased somewhat from a preliminary amount of $ 200,000 to $ 214,000. City officials had discussed increasing the fire chief’s salary and recommended increasing it from $6,000 to $9,000. Fire Chief J.C. Dobbs proposed a salary of about $17,000 and after considerable discussion at a budget meeting last month, Council members compromised, approving an annual salary of $12,000.

The fire department budget also has a new line item for retirement. A fulltime firefighter will retire in February and the city is required to pay accumulated sick leave up to three months.

The water department projects to take in $2 million in revenue, including $730,000 from sewer fees and $950,000 from water sales, with $2 million in budgeted expenses. Major expenses are $280,000 to purchase water, $405,000 for salaries, $411,000 for bond interest payments.

For the street fund, the city estimates $926,000 in revenue and about $910,000 in expenses. Budgeted items for the street department are $375,000 for the Parks Street bridge replacement, $125,000 for repairs and maintenance, $60,000 for sidewalk construction.

The sanitation budget projects $403,000 in revenue and almost $400,500 in expenses.

The city of Prairie Grove collects a one-half cent sales tax with one-fourth of this going to parks and recreation and one-fourth dedicated to capital improvements. For 2016, Prairie Grove projects to take in $234,000 from its half-cent sales tax. Budgeted expenditures for capital improvements are $30,000 for a new police vehicle and $61,362 as an annual payment on the two buildings that house City Hall and the police and district court.

The budget includes a 1.5- percent cost of living increase for city employees. This does not include step increases or other raises approved by department heads or the mayor.