Fund used to balance budget drying up

Reserves are dwindling. New Port Richey will have to find other ways to shore up its budget.

By Jodie Tillman, Times Staff Writer
Published February 21, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT The council approved Tom O'Neill's 1-year city manager contract on Tuesday.

NEW PORT RICHEY - Like a lot of governments, this city often taps into non-emergency reserves to balance its budgets.

Money left unspent and uncommitted from previous years, these reserves typically shore up New Port Richey's general fund with about $1-million a year.

But on Tuesday, the City Council learned that source is drying up. Finance Director Rick Snyder told council members that they can count on only $350,000 in those reserves in the upcoming budget year. That figure could be higher depending on whether the city has money left over when the current fiscal year ends in June.

The upshot? Snyder told council members that the dwindling reserves means the city will have to look elsewhere for roughly $650,000 to balance the upcoming budget.

Add that to the $432,000 loss from Amendment 1, he said, and "that's another whack we're going to have to deal with."

Though it's typical to apply unspent funds from one year to the next, Snyder said he would like to see the council become less dependent on them.

"Sooner or later," he said in an interview Wednesday, "they're going to run out."

These so-called "undesignated" reserves are separate from the money set aside in case of emergencies. That emergency money isn't used to balance the budget.

No one expects any major service cuts to the roughly $17-million general fund budget, which is supported by property taxes. To deal with this year's reductions, administrators have talked about requiring each department to present smaller requests from last year, possibly cutting a service like yard debris pickup and not filling positions of some retiring employees.

Development Director Betty Coffey, for instance, who has been with the city for more than 30 years, is retiring this month. Her position will not be filled next year; her duties will be split between two other employees.

At any rate, the city officially knows who's going to be at the helm as it navigates the upcoming budget year.

The council on Tuesday approved a one-year contract with Tom O'Neill to serve as city manager.

His pay will be $109,720, roughly the same that former city manager Scott Miller received but without a few of the perks, including a housing stipend, severance pay and a car allowance.

In his previous position as public works director, O'Neill made just under $80,000.

Deputy Mayor Ginny Miller said the renewable contract term of one year should become the standard form for any future city managers as well.

Jodie Tillman can be reached at jtillman@sptimes.com or 727 869-6247.

[Last modified February 20, 2008, 21:20:31]