Memorandum 16-118 Mid Year Budget Amendments

Memorandum 16-118

TO:                        Mayor Wythe and Homer City Council

FROM:                   Katie Koester, City Manager

DATE:                  July 20, 2016   

SUBJECT:          Midyear Budget Amendments 2016

Ordinance 16-41 makes necessary midyear budget adjustments. Budget amendment request forms from departments that give more project detail and justification can be found attached to the memo.

During the 2016 budget cycle, staff anticipated some midyear budget amendments would be necessary to help cover unanticipated expenses in 2016 as every line item was scrutinized heavily and any cushion for covering unexpected expenses removed. Nevertheless, I am pleased to request only $14,000 in general fund expenditure adjustments for 2016. Furthermore, by renegotiating our contract with Alaska Municipal League Joint Insurance Association, the City was able to save $94,000 in FY2016. My proposal is to divide those savings between a few modest requests from departments and City Hall reserves. As you recall, during the 2016 budget cycle the amount of money put aside in City Hall Reserves with the justification of eventual roof replacement at City Hall was diverted to help fund the Hickerson Cemetery expansion project.

The one budget request that I did not recommend funding was replacement of half of the public computers at the Homer Public Library. I am concerned about the budget uncertainty at this time. However, there is no question that new computers are needed; they are beyond their life cycle and get heavy use. This is something the City will have to address in the near future.

Enc:

2016 midyear budget requests from departments 

City of Homer 2016 Insurance Distribution