How to resolve AdBlock issue? SARATOGA SPRINGS — Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan reports that 2014 City general fund (operating budget) revenues and expenses have come in largely balanced. Unaudited year-end figures reveal small annual operating surplus in the amount of $91,082. “This is budgeting at its best. Departments did exactly what I recommended - ask for the funds needed and use the funds received. Budgeting is planning and this is clear evidence of a good and well-implemented plan,” states Madigan.
Actual 2014 revenue collected totaled $41,283,865. Actual 2014 expenditures totaled $41,192,783. “The City Departments did an excellent job managing their budgets and this will service the City and taxpayers well in the future,” the Commissioner stated.
For 2014, the City is required to have a unassigned, unappropriated fund balance between $4,175,952 and $6,263,928. Unaudited figures indicate that the City’s unassigned, unappropriated fund balance will be in excess of the maximum amount by about $1.54 million. City policy requires that any funds in excess of the maximum allowable amount be utilized, and the Commissioner of Finance is required to make recommendations to the City Council regarding the use of such funds, following an independent audit.
Madigan states that, as in years past, these funds will be returned to the taxpayers. “I have kept the property tax rate stable for three years with my recommendations to create, strengthen, and tap reserves; contribute to critical capital needs, such as infrastructure and equipment; plan for future retirement needs; and set aside funds to settle long expired labor contracts.”
The City has fortified its reserves over the last several years, a fact that has contributed to its high bond rating of AA+ and helped it obtain low interest rates on bonds for capital projects. These reserves and other designations will be key to future planning in the face of possible VLT revenue decline. “VLT revenue is currently 4.4% of the City’s operating budget. Losing any amount of this, especially as we retain the expenses of the host City, is a challenge that my administration has been preparing for. Using fund balance excess wisely has been part of those preparations.”
Both the Water and Sewer Funds also ended FY 2014 with annual operating surpluses. After carrying operating deficits for several years, these funds have been improving since 2009, and have made substantial inroads on the repayment of a debt to the general fund.
