Published: October 30, 2009 07:29 pm      

New Albany City Council to vote on fixing budget gap

Downtown masterplan also on docket

The New Albany City Council will vote on corrective action Monday to deal with shortfalls in its 2009 budget.

To assure the general fund is balanced at the close of the year, City Controller Kay Garry is suggesting a combination of cuts and a supplement of Economic Development Income Tax money to cover what amounts to nearly $1.8 million in shortfalls.

“The EDIT fund is what the council indicated they wished to use rather than the rainy day fund,” Garry stated in an e-mail.

The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance informed New Albany it would have to cut $813,376 from its general fund budget, as property tax receipts fell short of city expenditures for 2009. That amount did not include shortfalls in the police and fire departments.

“The police and fire budgets are going to be overspent by approximately $1,080,062,” Garry said.

Garry said she combed through budgets in other departments along with City Attorney Shane Gibson, and found they were able to cut $110,000 out of the general fund.

That amount goes toward the deficit, as likely will a $500,000 EDIT appropriation already approved by the council earlier in the year. The $500,000 was intended to cover the hiring of five new police officers.

With the general fund cuts and the use of the $500,000 appropriation, the council would still need to use about $1.3 million of EDIT money to cover the rest of the shortfall.

So the council will have a $1,293,438 EDIT appropriation before it Monday to bridge the gap. If it approves the request, the EDIT fund would retain about $1.5 million for the rest of the year.

“If the council appropriates this amount for the 2009 general fund, the city should be able to close out the year without a deficit in the general fund,” Garry said.

Also at the meeting, the Scribner Place phase two masterplan will be up for a vote. It’s a resolution that would incorporate the downtown development strategy into the city’s comprehensive plan.

Since it’s a resolution, it will require only one reading and does not entail any funding promises by the council if passed.

The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the third-floor Assembly Room of the City-County Building.