Mammoth Town Council meets tonight, hopes to adopt budget
The Mammoth Lakes Town Council meets tonight at 6 p.m. in Suite Z for its regularly scheduled meeting and hopes to approve a 2010/11 fiscal year budget, which is currently two months overdue. The Town’s fiscal year began on July 1 and the budget is suppose to be the financial plan that projects revenue stream and planned expenditures for the fiscal year. The Town, however, has found it difficult to approve a budget because of the continual need to cut costs in order to make up the deficit realized in the last fiscal year.
According to the agenda item, if the Town factors in several assumptions, then the deficit at this time is $717,435 instead of approximately $1.5 million. These assumptions include reduced cost of the liability and increased workers compensation premiums, reduced health insurance premium for January 2011, increased State snow removal reimbursement, updated allocation of staff costs, increased planning and engineering fee revenues, and reduced airport terminal debt payment.
Several options will be before Council this evening for making up the remaining $717,435 deficit if Council decides to assume all of the above. The options include reducing payroll through layoffs or negotiated concessions. According to the agenda, the special closed session Council meeting on Aug. 30 provided an update on labor relations to the Council so they could make an informed decision on this option this evening.
Other options for dealing with the budget deficit that Council will consider include using some or all of the $439,374 “wait and see” money that was set aside during budget workshops; budget TOT revenue at $600,000 below FY 09/10 actual revenues rather than $1.2 million which will increase General Fund revenues by $369,231; reduce employee leave funding; reduce the funding of the REU from 25 percent to 20 percent which would just over $800,000; or approve the budget with current staffing and allow the Town Manager to streamline adminstration and other staffing over the course of the year based on TOT actual revenues.
Other items on this evening’s agenda include discussions of Skatepark use and regulations, 2010 fall Measure R priorities, and the Draft Downtown Neighborhood District Plan Report among others. For the full agenda visit the Town’s website.
