Unexpected expenses: Lodi, Galt use different systems

The city of Galt did not include in its budget money for the celebration of Stephanie Brown-Trafton's return home from Beijing. But when she won the gold medal in women's discus at the 2008 Olympic Games, the city still came up with $1,000 for a party in Galt Community Park.

When a generator needs to be repaired at city hall or the city needs a new color network scanner, Lodi and Galt have different ways of paying for these unbudgeted items.

In both cities, any large amount has to go before the city council for approval.

But in Galt, the city manager's office has $25,000 available to pay for these smaller items, while in Lodi the city depends on each department head to find extra money in the department's budget.

Galt's contingency fund has paid $505 for a welcome luncheon for the chief of police in 2006, $640 for defibrillator batteries in 2007 and $1,938 to replace a stolen computer this year.

"It's for things that come up during the year, that we haven't budgeted for, like something might break," said Jason Behrmann, assistant city manager. In the mid-term budget review, city staff decreased the account from $50,000 to $25,000 because all city departments cut back on expenses, Behrmann said.

During the past three years, the city has always had a surplus left at the end of the year, which remains in the General Fund.

Sampling of expenses

Here is a sampling of expenses from Galt's city manager contingency fund:
2006:

$3,210 for a postage machine.

$1,160 for a new chief of police uniform.

$1,100 for a color network scanner.
2007:

$640 for batteries for defibrillators.

$5,000 to hire a winter bird festival coordinator (as instructed by the council).

$1,460 for AT&T phone repair.
2008:

$1,000 for an Olympic celebration for Gold medal winner Stephanie Brown-Trafton.

$2,500 for Boys and Girls Club utilities (as instructed by council).

$1,000 for telephone maintenance.
Source: City of Galt

The city spent $20,208 in fiscal year 2008-09, which ended June 30. Galt's budgets are on a two-year fiscal year cycle, so the 2008 budget will continue through June 2010.

The fund came to light most recently in December 2008 when the council directed City Manager Ted Anderson to give $2,500 to the Boys and Girls Club to pay for its utilities.

The money was not enough, and the club gave up its national charter in April. The city is now in a lawsuit with the club over $400,000 in city funds the club received to "develop and construct" a new clubhouse.

The main reason Galt has the account is because the staff budgets tightly and every line item is dedicated to a specific purpose, Behrmann said.

"What some cities will do is add money into the budget for extra things, like if they need $10,000 for computers, they will budget $15,000," he said.

The advantage of having a contingency fund is it saves time because city staff does not need to get council approval for these smaller expenses, Behrmann said.

In Lodi, City Manager Blair King can sign-off on purchases of less than $20,000. Instead of having an account in the city manager's budget, if a department has an unexpected expense, it is responsible for finding the money in its budget, said city spokesman Jeff Hood.

The Lodi City Council does have $7,500 set aside in a protocol account for unexpected expenses, like council receptions and business lunches or plaques, awards or sympathies given by the council. The council must approve any expenses from this account.

This year, the $4,264 in expenses included $1,832 for Touch of Mesquite to cater the boards and commissions reception, $172 for Village Flowers for former mayor Ted Katzakian's funeral and $16.70 for an engraved brass plate to add Larry Hansen to the Wall of Mayors.

Contact reporter Maggie Creamer at maggiec@lodinews.com or read her blog at www.lodinews.com/blog/citybuzz.

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