TORRINGTON – The City of Torrington will operate on a $33,483,973 budget for fiscal year 2017-18.
That annual budget received final approval during the regular meeting of the Torrington City Council Tuesday evening, June 20. Even though there is an 11.25 percent increase over last year, Mayor Mike Varney describes it as. “Spartan.
“It’s a pretty Spartan budget,” Varney said during a telephone interview Wednesday morning. “Two years ago we started to tighten our belts because we didn’t want to lose personnel.”
Varney said expected cuts in state funding and the slowing economy were the driving force behind the budgetary austerity. Adding to the dilemma were reduced funding opportunities the city has relied on for infrastructure projects, including the new water head works.
“Last year the state started making cuts,” Varney said. “If coal and oil don’t come back we haven’t got
a prayer.
“We had several public budget work sessions this spring, and I think that helped,” he said. “The department heads cooperated real well and we tried to make a budget that will work. I think we can live with this budget, but if there are further cuts, the bleeding really starts, and we’ll lose jobs.”
City Clerk/Treasurer Lynnette Strecker said most of the $3,386,015 increase over FY 2016-17 is due to capital projects amounting to $3,506.973, including necessary improvements to the waste water treatment facilities.
Strecker said the 11.25 percent increase included a total operating budget decrease of $138,046 that was out-weighed by a 43 percent increase in the capital and equipment budgets of $3,524,061.
“Because the city lost consensus block grant funding of $1.1 million from the state during the past biennium, and other funding cuts, the city will seek to fund critical capital projects through USDA loans totaling $4,880,000 this next fiscal year,” Strecker said.
Water and sewer utility rates are projected to increase in FY2018, mainly due to the increase in debt service expected to make payments on the USDA loans.
Personnel costs increased by 5 percent due to 3.1 percent COLA increases for employees, and health insurance cost increases of 6 percent.
Revenue losses for the coming year are expected to fall another $473,000. Losses in FY2017 were $1.2 million.
Sales and optional tax revenues declined by $215,075 over the past two fiscal years and are projected to continue to decline.
Total cash balances for all funds for the fiscal year ending June 30 are projected to be $6,557,199. Falling short of their target cash reserve balances were the General and
Electric funds.
Strecker said an estimated $3,138,090 was taken from Cash Reserve to balance the budget.
The City’s new recycling department was added to the Sanitation budget in FY2018 when it assumed control of operations from DSI in January 2017, adding approximately $225,000 to the overall
FY2018 budget.
