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Final consideration for town budget

Posted 6/18/13

The Town Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and take a final vote on its proposed budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year when it meets Thursday, June 20.

The council has already given …

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Final consideration for town budget

Posted

The Town Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing and take a final vote on its proposed budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year when it meets Thursday, June 20.

The council has already given preliminary approval for the budget totaling $41.6 million.

The proposal includes $13.2 million in the General Fund budget for everyday operations. This is virtually unchanged from the current year. The proposal also includes $19.5 million in capital projects

The department budgets included in the General Fund reflect reductions or modest increases over the 2012/13 year.

Public safety services remain the largest portion of the General Fund budget ($6.6 million), roughly half of the fund total.

This covers fire and EMS as well as law enforcement, both of which are provided with contract services.

The fire and emergency programs budget is proposed at $3.475 million, a 6.7 percent increase.

Law enforcement is covered in a contract with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. The proposed budget for law enforcement is $3.1 million, 6 percent higher than this fiscal year.

The Municipal Court has a proposed budget of $364,171, nearly 10 percent down from the current year.

The Administration budget for next year is $2.1 million, a 4.3 percent decrease from 2013.

The proposed budget for Development Services is $1.8 million, a reduction of 8.2 percent.

The Community Services Department budget is proposed at $2.2 million, a slight 1.2 percent decrease from this year.

Capital proposal

The $19.5 million budgeted for capital improvement includes $8.2 million for reconstruction of Saguaro Boulevard. This project is contingent on voters in November approving a General Obligation Bond to fund the work.

The CIP budget also includes $2 million for the first year of the pavement management program, $3.9 million for improvements and widening on Shea Boulevard from the eastern town boundary to Technology Drive, $1.6 million for the Avenue of the Fountains median improvements and $400,000 for traffic signal upgrades at Palisades and Saguaro boulevards.

An outline of the budget proposal based on core services as follows:

*Public safety; $6,596,636

*Administration; $2,543,798

*Downtown excise fund and economic development; $2,125,198

*Development Services; $4,164,512

*Community Services; $2,199,082

*Debt service; $2,555,985

*Special revenue funds; $1,563,875

*Capital improvement; $19,248,082

*Internal; $658,210.

The Town Council meets Thursday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers at Town Hall. The budget hearing and consideration of approval will be separate from the regular meeting agenda.

Additional budget information is included in the story in The Times print edition June 19.