City budget drops to $44.5M
SANDPOINT — During an Aug. 1 workshop, city staff presented council members with a proposed budget for fiscal year 2019 at $1 million less than the preliminary amount set on July 18.
The preliminary, or maximum, budget amount was set at $45,538,939. Council is now looking at a proposed total of $44,538,939 for fiscal year 2019.
“As we took a look at the number of projects, particularly our capital projects in our Public Works department … and given what we have on our plate for planning, we made a decision this week that we were best off to revise our budget down a million dollars,” said City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton.
The reduction came from removing the construction aspect of the Eastgate Drive replacement, Stapleton said, which is a water line replacement. Engineering of the project will still be done during fiscal year 2019, but construction will be done at a future point in time, she said.
Some of the larger capital projects budgeted for Public Works in 2019 include the second phase of the downtown revitalization project at $3,428,650, sewer projects at $6,956,000, and water projects at $2,477,500. Sewer projects include approximately $3 million in improvements to the wastewater treatment plant, as well as installment of a sewer line up North Boyer in anticipation of future development in the area, Stapleton said.
The largest capital improvement in the Parks and Recreation budget is for Memorial Field at $3,314,173. About $2 million is budgeted specifically for turf improvements at the field.
In addition to the larger project, several master plans are listed in the proposed budget, including a $100,000 City Beach master plan, a $200,000 watershed management plan, a $200,000 stormwater master plan, a $150,000 water master plan and a $100,000 streets plan.
Stapleton said the city anticipates receiving $3,377,872 in grant funding in 2019, as well as $5,562,922 in funding from the Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency for projects such as the downtown revitalization project. Water and sewer reserves are budgeted as revenue at about $6.5 million.
“There is always a concern when the city budget is increasing by several million dollars … there’s lots of ins and outs to our budget, but it’s these outside leverage dollars that have really been driving the increase in the city’s budget over the last several years,” Stapleton said.
“... This year alone we have been awarded $1.7 million in grants for projects, outside of SURA dollars.”
Stapleton said the city has just under $89,000 in the property tax relief fund this year, stemming from excess resort city tax. The excess taxes go into a fund, she said, that can be “recaptured” the following year. The city’s 1 percent local option tax, which is dedicated to the city’s park improvements, falls under the resort city tax, Stapleton said.
The budget also includes $111,895 in foregone funds. If a taxing district in Idaho, such as a city or county, does not collect the 3 percent property tax increase allowed by the state in one year, the leftover, or foregone amount, can be collected the following year following a public hearing by the taxing district.
The public hearing for final adoption of the fiscal year 2019 budget is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Sandpoint City Hall, 1123 Lake St.
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.