City Manager Bill Kelly presented a "flat line budget" to the city council. Kelly said current uncertainties in state funding will not be resolved until after the election. The city will revisit the budget at midyear.
Reserve funds that were set aside for city infrastructure improvements may have to be used to deal with state budget cuts, as proposed by city manager Bill Kelly.
Dr. Dennis Lojeski, a candidate for City Council for the second time, states his concerns for the financial future of the city, including the issue of reserve funds.
The City Council approved a $25.7 million general fund budget after resolving a $418,000 projected shortfall and agreeing to the closure of City Hall on alternate Fridays.
The new City Council has several options to try to fill the projected $2.2 million general fund budget gap. Options include dipping into city reserves, raising taxes and fees, salary cuts and layoffs.
William Kelly has been appointed Arcadia City Manager after holding the Acting City Manager position for 7 months following the resignation of Donald Duckworth. Kelly began working for the city as a community development director in November, 1993.
Arcadia City Manager Bill Kelly is skeptical about the way the State of California balanced this year's budget. The State promises to pay cities back for sales tax to be used to pay off $10.7 billion in loans. The maneuver, known as the "triple flip" will take half of the cities' sales tax revenue for the next five years, and pay it back out of property taxes now earmarked for schools. Arcadia will lose 25% of its vehicle license fee reimbursement, around $750,000. Arcadia is in good shape this year and next, primarily because of a healthy reserve fund. After 2004-2005, unless some solutions are in place, the city could face some hard times.
At the Arcadia City Planning Commission meeting of June 13, City Manager Bill Kelly gave a brief overview of the Santa Anita Entertainment Center Project (SAEC).
City Manager Bill Kelly is concerned about a new measure to penalize cities that are not meeting state affordable housing rules. The Dunn Measure could penalize cities as much as $1000 per needed unit and take away up to 60 percent of gas tax funds. Bill Kelly says Arcadia already has a number of senior citizen projects in planning.
The Arcadia city budget of $35.8 million for the 2003-2004 fiscal year was unveiled and will be the subject of a public hearing June 14. City Manager Bill Kelly called the spending program "flat line," with only 1.5 new city jobs in the coming year. Kelly said Arcadia is protected from possible cuts to meet state budget uncertainties because of $6 million in reserves, which were earmarked but never spent in a previous budget. The city is safe for at least the next two budget years.
City Manager Bill Kelly outlined his proposed budget for the 2003-2004 fiscal year which begins July 1. The Arcadia City Council will hold a public hearing and is scheduled to adopt it at its June 17 meeting.
City of Arcadia faces new budget year with caution, even though there is a surplus. Arcadia is projecting a budget of $29.96 million, down from $30.5 million the year before.