Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

$8 Million Budget Passed By Council

Prescott's City Council passed an $8 million budget for 1996 during its regular meeting Monday night at City Hall.

Budgets include a 2 percent salary increase for departments to be meted out by the council's budget committee.

Accountant Carl Dalrymple told the council the budget was broken into three parts. Those are general administrative, street department and utilities.

Water and sewer rates were raised in 1995 after the council was forced to do so from the requirements of some of its grants and loans. It is required those departments show the income to pay back the debt.

The 1996 general administrative budget breaks down like this: fire net income, minus $61,300; police net income, minus $265,100 (with $22,200 anticipated gross revenue); cemetery net income, minus $44,361; sanitation net income, minus $63,900; Prescott minus Nevada County Chamber of Commerce expense, $2,400; garbage collection net income, $47,700 (with $180,000 of anticipated gross income); and city shop net income minus $20,598.

The general and administrative budget figures on having $815,384 of gross income while spending $308,243 and another $507,141 going into other departments leaving a net income of just over $1,700.

Part of the income expected will derive from several sources. Some of these include $300,000 from the hospital sales tax, and $353,120 being transferred from utilities.

General administrative budget pays for services including accounting, mayor's salary, aldermen salary, parks commission and economic development office.

The Nevada County Economic Development Office got a $25,000 boost from the city as its budget was raised to $50,000 with the hopes this money will be spent on a speculative building to lure industry.

A spec building would be purchased by an industry with the money being returned to the city. This idea has worked in Hempstead and Clark counties.

Prescott's street department budget is anticipating $315,400 in revenue while expecting to spend $314,175 leaving a net income of $1,225.

The budget calls for $100,000 being spent on materials, $18,000 on a new 3/4 ton truck and $55,000 for street sidewalks and lights.

The utilities budget is divided by departments.

The electric department is anticipating gross income of $5.55 million and expenses of $4.5 million. Net income from this department will be $1,053,180.

Water department budget is expected to be $389,900 while expenses are $517,470 leaving a minus $127,570 in net income.

Sewer department budget is anticipating revenues of $550,000 and expenses of $443,432 for net income of $106,568.

Shop budget is to be about $1,000 from the sale of salvage while $20,598 is expected to be spent for a net income of minus $19,598.

General administrative budget is expected to have $70,000 in income while expenses are to be $658,030 for a net income of minus $588,030.

Depreciation fund will be picking up $326,000 in expected spending this year including the purchase of Arkla property for $16,000 (approved in 1995), repairs to various city properties, a bucket truck for $105,000 and computer meter readers for $15,000.

In addition to the budget the council passed an ambulance resolution and franchise agreement with Nevada County Ambulance Service.

$36,000 will be spent to assist the service so residents can have a local ambulance service.

Two resolutions were passed -- corrected from December resolutions. They were for ESCO and Dodco and pertain to the removal of asbestos from the old National Guard Armory.

The armory has already been sold by bid for removal and demolition, pending the removal of the asbestos.

The council was attended by about a dozen youth involved with the troop 81 of the Boy Scouts of America in Prescott.