Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 25, 1993 TAG: 9305250575
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
"The goal was for them to make many of those hard choices right on the front end," Pulaski Assistant Town Manager Rob Lyons told Town Council at its first budget work session early Monday. "For the most part, it worked."
Lyons said town employee salaries and benefits - which make up 59 percent of general- fund expenses - and debt service costs are fixed. He estimated what capital outlay costs will be in the coming year, leaving operating expenses as the major budget item remaining.
After subtracting the other three items from next year's anticipated revenue, he found that what was left for operations was 2.5 percent higher than what was available this year. So he told department heads that their target budgets were what they had this year plus 2.5 percent.
The idea is that the people in the field know best what they need to do their jobs.
"I think it works better if they make those decisions," he said, than if decisions come down from a central administrative office.
"If it worked in a perfect world, when we got all the departments' budgets back, we'd have a balanced budget before we even sat down," Lyons said.
But there are exceptions where a department has an unusual or one-time expense, and those had to be taken into account in drawing up a proposed budget.
"We'll certainly try to fine-tune that for next year," Lyons said.
Council is to have a public hearing on the proposed budget at its June 15 meeting, and may set a special meeting for June 22, a week later, to adopt it.
Lyons said general-fund revenue appeared to be up by about $100,000 next year. Councilman Roy D'Ardenne said this might be a good year for the town to see if it can show its appreciation to the employees who are making the site-based management decisions with an improved wage or benefit.
"That's the type of philosophy that's going to make this town go," D'Ardenne said.
The town has 91 full-time and generally seven part-time jobs.
The total proposed budget is about $4.25 million, up 2.4 percent from the current year. No changes are envisioned in tax rates, but efforts to collect delinquent taxes would be stepped up.
Health insurance premiums would decrease by 11 percent under the package submitted by Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The monthly cost to each employee would be $125.
Lyons said efforts to add dental insurance did not work out.
A separate council briefing may be held to go through the budget request from the town's Main Street program for 1993-94. It envisions the program itself generating $10,000 and $41,202 coming to it through the town's Urban Development Action Grant funds earmarked for new business.
by CNB