City adopts 'conservative' budget

With the budget adopted by the Yuma City Council Wednesday evening, the good news for the public is that many property owners will see little or no increase in their property taxes next year.

Only a few property owners will see a large increase in their tax rate, the majority of them owners of new homes that have recently been built, said Pat Wicks, city finance director.

In his presentation, Wicks said the city was able to reduce its levy because of the large increase of new property added to the tax rolls. As a result, the tax rate will decrease from $1.6744 to $1.5570.

The tax depends on a home's value as determined by the Yuma County Assessor, Wicks explained. "That tends to be lower than the market value."

He said the total assessed property value for the city is $560.8 million, an increase of $30 million over the year before.

The average residential property owner's tax bill will go from $173 to $176, Wicks said. However, 2,087 property owners will actually see a decrease while another 4,933 will see an increase of only $5.

The largest tax increases, ranging from $30 to $50, are primarily for reassessed property that has gone from vacant land to completed construction, he said.

As for the city budget itself, it definitely is frugal but at least it also avoids drastic cuts other communities are facing during the current slow economy.

"It's very conservative," City Administrator Mark Watson said following the Yuma City Council meeting.

With no public comment and little discussion, the council adopted a budget of $324.2 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year. In comparison, the current year's budget is $428.1 million.

The big difference, Watson explained, is a marked decrease in funding for capital improvement projects. Last year, $285 million was budgeted for improvements to city facilities. Only $162 million is budgeted for such projects this year.

The decrease in large part reflects the completion of the new Fire Station No. 6 and the near completion of the Agua Viva Water Treatment Plant, Watson said. In addition, a number of projects were deferred to further lower the CIP budget.

The focus for the coming year will be on CIP projects to be funded from the $219.8 million in bonds the city issued last fall, he said. That includes expenditures of $127.9 million for utility projects, $30.8 million for public safety projects and $61.1 million for roadway improvements.

Those bonds will be paid from water and sewer fees, special revenue funds and other sources.

As for the operating budget, that will remain flat at $162.5 million for the coming year.

"There are no new services," Watson said. On the other hand, he said, the city will be able to retain and sustain services at the current level. It also will be able to offer pay-for performance step increases for employees, and there are no layoffs.

"That's in comparison to other Arizona cities that have had some layoffs, significant cuts and no pay increases," he said.

One challenge was absorbing an increase of more than $1 million in personnel expenses for 12 new firefighters to staff the new fire station, Watson said.

"And I'm still praying we have enough money for gas and fuel as the prices continue to rise," he said.


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Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.