A handful of public hearings were conducted at Wednesday’s Price City Council meeting to receive community input regarding amending and revising the budget for fiscal year ending June 30, a transfer from the electric fund to the general fund, and an adoption of the tentative 2018-19 budget.
City employee Lisa Richens had brief descriptions of each budget topic, stating that overall changes in the city’s budget increased to just over $248,000. The general fund went down $124,725 due to being able to decrease departments and expenditures. With some other small tweaks and nudges with a number of departments, the budget revision was proposed. As no one chose to speak during the public hearing, the council voted to approve the revisions.
Richens also stated that the need to be transparent about the transfer from the electric fund to the general fund is a recent change. A separate hearing must now be hosted where specific information is provided. A transfer of $2,283,675 was proposed, which is 31%. The overhead cost goes toward legal issues, budgeting, shop and the like and will assist in keeping property tax prices low, enable entities that are exempt from property tax to assist, sustain parks and recreations, and more. This was also approved the council.
The tentative budget for the 2018-19 year had changes such as cell phone reimbursements. At the time of creating the budget, Richens stated that they were unsure of the attorney contracts and what the cost would come in at. At the time, a number was plugged in. However, it has since been adjusted to the contracted amount. As there was no one who chose to speak at this public hearing either, approval was given by the council members.
