Restrained spending boosts Gonzales Rainy Day Fund

Posted

The Gonzales City Council has a “problem” many would like to also have.

Leftover money.

City manager Allen Barnes told the City Council Tuesday night that the city coffers should have “a significant amount of money” remaining for the city’s Rainy Day Fund when the current fiscal year closes on March 31.

“The unaudited report we got today was that we are still running significant revenues over expenditures,” Barnes told the Council at its monthly meeting. “It looks like we’re going to put a significant amount of money in our Rainy Day Fund this year in the general fund.”

While many would think it’s a good thing to have more money available in the checking account than what’s needed to pay the bills, Barnes admits that’s not what the accounting department was working toward.

“I don’t like to run revenues over expenditures – our goal is to get to zero,” he said. “However, in uncertain financial times that we currently live in, it is a good idea to put some money back. It’s not going to bail us out for months and months and months, but it’ll keep us afloat for a couple of weeks.”

Barnes said spending by most city departments is running at about 80-85 percent (of budget), noting that department heads “have tried very diligently to spend the public’s money in a very restrained way.”

The City Council also approved a special six-month budget which begins April 1. The city voted last year to switch its fiscal year from April 1 through March 31 to Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. Therefore, to make the change, the city will operate on a six-month budget from April 1 through Sept. 30.

The six-month budget reflects expected revenue of $10,851,755 and anticipated expenses of $10,266,302, which will result in a projected balance of $585,453 on Sept. 30.

In other business, the City Council voted to establish a 40 mph speed limit for Spur 131 between U.S. Highway 90A (Sarah DeWitt Drive) and state Highway 97. The highway had previously had a prima facie speed limit, which allows vehicles to travel at a speed appropriate for road and weather conditions.

The Texas Department of Transportation has completed a traffic study that determined 40 mph to be appropriate for the stretch of highway that is less than ½ mile long.

Comments