'Every dollar budgeted to be collected is also being spent ... Lodi is still well short of having adequate savings'

Well the 2008 — 2009 proposed budget for the City of Lodi is hot off the presses and now we begin Budget Month.

Lodi's proposed general fund budget is $43,104,463. This is down from the previous budget of $44,873,225, a decline of $1,768,762. Now, before you raise your glass to budget cuts, you need to know that this budget is balanced without any increase in our surplus.

What that means is that every dollar that is budgeted to be collected is also being spent and that Lodi is still well short of having adequate savings.

This budget is also different from prior years in that the accounting has changed for a few very big items like debt service.

As such, comparing this budget with last year's or even actual results is virtually impossible without staff or a tremendous amount of time.

I am not trying to imply anything shifty by our city management because some of these changes, like the debt service, do make sense. What I am saying is that you must take a look at the budget for what it is and ask them, the City Council, to compare the results for you.

With that said, let me highlight some of the items in the budget that I found interesting:

Recreation and the Community Center — Unlike previous years, Recreation and the Community Center, Hutchins Street Square, are not included in the general fund. Why? The idea is so they can be more accountable based on services. It smells like fee increases to me but only time will tell.

Parks and Recreation are cut again. The Parks budget is smaller with more parks and the Recreation Department staff is being reduced by one supervisor. How much more can these departments be asked to give to others?

Public Safety is budgeted to be approximately 59 percent of the general fund. This is up from a little over 52 percent last year. Most of this is an allocation of the debt service on the police department building to the police department budget but this number is big and will only get bigger unless something is done to pay for the increases. I'll say it again — sales tax for public safety.

Donations and Special Events — This is an interesting part of the budget and one where I think you can help. At this time, I will save my opinions on them as I may be asked to vote on them later this month and I want to be fair to everyone.

Lodi Conference and Visitor's Bureau — This group promotes Lodi for conferences and tourism. $93,500

Downtown Lodi Business Partnership and Parade of Lights — This group holds events and promotes downtown. $37,500

San Joaquin Partnership — This group promotes San Joaquin County. $35,000

Lodi District Chamber of Commerce — The City of Lodi is a member and pays dues of $1,400.

Fireworks and the 4th of July — $47,000

Grants for art by the Arts Commission — $50,000

Grape Festival — This is support, primarily with public safety, to the Grape Festival. $15,000

Celebration on Central — This is an event on Central Street. $2,500

Other Special Events — $15,000 for other stuff.

Savings — There isn't any in the general fund. We are, however, increasing savings at the Electric Utility but we also pay higher rates for those savings.

I hope that you will participate in Budget Month. Our city council will probably meet three times to discuss the budget and the budget and finance committee will meet at least once. At each of these meetings you can be heard.

John Johnson, CFA is a Lodi-based business appraiser and chairman of the Lodi Budget and Finance Committee. You can reach him at john@johnejohnson.com or at (209) 369-1451.

Reader Feedback

rwayne wrote on May 6, 2008 10:07 AM:

" Legion Park needs attention. Cutting positions and resources will only aggravate an already sad situation. The park is heavily used which is wonderful. We need to maintain adequate funds to address the management and upkeep of our wonderful neighborhood parks. "

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'Every dollar budgeted to be collected is also being spent ... Lodi is still well short of having adequate savings'

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