The city of Cortez is putting the finishing touches on its 2016 budget, which is projecting $10.8 million in expenses and $11.4 million in revenue.
Overall, preliminary budget figures are putting the city on track to start the year with a fund balance of $4.4 million. The city also is applying for a $2 million grant from the Department of Local Affairs to remodel the former Cortez Journal offices, which it agreed to buy last month for $3 million.
“We have a fund balance policy that requires us to have a minimum fund reserve of $2.1 million, and (for 2016) we’re projecting to have a minimum fund balance of $4.4 million,” said City Manager Shane Hale. “Even with the cash purchase of the new City Hall, we still have really responsible reserves.”
The City Hall purchase, which was financed internally, is reflected in the 2015 revised budget.
City departments began presenting their 2016 budgets to the Cortez City Council at the Oct. 27 workshop, and departmental presentations are scheduled to continue at council workshops throughout November.
The first to present their 2016 budgets and 2015 highlights were Planning and Building, Human Resources, the Welcome Center, Municipal Court, and marketing departments.
The preliminary $534,233 budget for Planning and Building, which handles planning, zoning, building, fire and code enforcement, includes about $50,000 to handle abatement of dangerous abandoned structures.
Planning and Building director Sam Proffer explained that the funds are expected to cover two to three demolitions.
“We’ve got two or three properties in mind that we’d like to visit,” he said.
Proffer also said that the department is fully staffed for the first time in years, which should help with the increasingly heavy workload the department has faced because of an uptick in residential construction and code enforcement.
Municipal court is slated for an 8.5 percent increase in funding – $147,198 compared with $135,645 in 2015 – because of increased demand for court-appointed attorneys.
Carla Odell, municipal court administrator, said that there were 851 municipal cases in 2014, compared with 867 so far in 2015.
She added that a change at the state level that loosens qualifications for council cases, the court expects to need more funds for court-funded counsel.
“I think our biggest accounts are under municipal court services, which are court-funded council cases. ... In 2014, we had 41, and so far this year we’ve already had 41 and we still have a few months ago,” she said.
Additionally, the increase in code enforcement by the Planning and Building Department has also been felt at municipal court, Odell said.
“In 2014, our cases were 851, and that includes animal, parking, traffic and criminal cases; to date so far, we’re already at 867 cases,” she said.
Just looking at criminal cases, in 2014 there were 397, and this year there are 421 to date.
“We’ve always had regulars that keep coming back, we’re still seeing a lot of alcohol-related cases,” Odell said.
City council is set to adopt the final 2016 operating budget in early December.
