HUTCHINSON, Kan. — City Manager John Deardoff informed members of the Hutchinson City Council that they are projected to spend more next year with the city budget than they are set to bring in with revenue.
The council would like to hold the mill levy at 2017 levels, so that means addressing the structural imbalance between spending and revenues and look for additional budget cuts in operating funds.
Deardoff says he has asked Public Works, Parks and Facilities, Police and Fire to look at their operational budgets and look for reductions equaling 3 percent. The majority of cuts involve wage savings as a result of open vacancies throughout the year. Additional budget reductions totaled $919,000 with $500,000 of that being attributed to open vacancy projections.
But, he says they’ll still maintain a structural imbalance in the General Fund. As it stands right now, they have budgeted expenses exceeding projected revenues by $1.6 million. The 2017 Budget was adopted showing a $1.2 million imbalance.
The mill levy required to support the budget as it stands now would require a .35 mill increase or $107,000 in the mill levy rate from the 2017 figure. Deardoff believes they can still find additional reductions to eliminate any need for a mill increase if that is what the council wants to do.
That, no doubt, will come up during a study session over the budget this coming Tuesday at City Hall.
Once all decisions are made in association with the 2018 budget, the next formal step will be to publish the budget. Once they publish the proposed budget total in the notice of public hearings, the council can reduce the amount published, but cannot increase it.
Deardoff is suggesting that they target July 18 as the date to formally approve their maximum budget and set either Aug. 1 or Aug. 15 as the date for a public hearing.