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The City’s annual budget is a fluid document. The administration puts together a proposed budget every year and City Council studies it, asks questions and ultimately approves the final product. It has to be approved and filed by March 31 every year.
Budgets are guidelines. They have to be flexible in case of emergencies, unforeseen expenditures and the vagaries of the marketplace. The pandemic threw some of our projects off kilter but we’re on our way to getting back to normal.
The budget approved by City Council in March shows general fund estimated revenues of a bit more than $15 million. These are the general operating funds that keep the City working. It pays for salaries and makes sure the police, fire and service departments are ready to go. The total budget is $86.9 million, which includes the municipal court, capital improvements, medical benefits and the water system.
Our main issue continues to be the municipal court, which has been operating at a deficit. Because the court is located in Berea, the City must make up any deficit. In 2020, the City transferred $190,000 from American Rescue Plan funds into the court fund. In 2021, the City advanced the court another $120,000. By law, the court must pay back that money to the City. The court’s 2022 budget shows a projected deficit of more than $234,000.
Because the Court serves several other communities, those cities were billed for their portion of last year’s shortfall, but in the end, it is up to Berea to make sure the budget balances. The Finance Director, other administration officials and City Council’s Court Committee are working with court officials to deal with this ongoing issue.
The court is an independent entity. It sets its own budget, makes its own rules. But we are determined that by cooperating with the City, the court’s finances can be better aligned with the City’s financial projections.
Our goal, as always, is to ensure that taxpayer funds are managed well and responsibly.