Even with Branson’s “caution light” on and city revenues estimated to be going down about 4 percent in 2009, the city’s operating expenses are budgeted to go up about 4 percent from last year. The budget presented to the Budget and Finance Committee at its Oct. 15 meeting for 2009 showed Budgeted Revenues of $15,440,350 and Budgeted Expenditures of $16, 787,967 as compared to Revenues of $16,149,452 and Expenditures of $16,188,545 in 2008.
At the meeting, Branson City Administrator Dean Kruithof said, “The only concern I have right now with the budget is that our revenues are still under expenditures.” In using the revenue and expense figures mentioned above for 2009 he said, “That’s deficit spending.”
Kruithof went on to explain a bright spot in Branson’s budgetary process as he said Branson’s Fund Balance is at about $6,074,000” or about 20 percent. He explained that the GFOA (Governmental Finance Officers Association) recommends a 13 percent Fund Balance and that Branson’s anticipated Balance at the end of 2009 will be over 20 percent. “Under normal circumstances, He continued, “If a city has a fund balance of 20 percent they would be doing cartwheels.” He shared the example of Ft. Smith, AR, from where he just came, having a Fund Balance of 5 percent.
Kruithof stated that in terms of reserves Branson is where it needs to be for 2009 but he is concerned about what happens in future years if the current down trend in the Fund Balance is not reversed. That trend shows an actual Fund Balance of $12,850,529 in 2007, a projected Fund Balance of $8,921,643 in 2008 and an estimated Fund Balance of $6,074,027 for 2009. He said, “We can’t continue to do that because eventually you are going to have zero, eventually you are going to get into the situation where the Fund Balances are not being met.”
Branson Mayor Raeanne Presley asked Kruithof to explain what a “Fund Balance” was. He responded, “The Fund Balance is the very bottom number in which you look at your total available funds for the fiscal year, your total expenditures and basically what’s left over.” It is the balance carried forward to the next year which becomes the lead element in the total funds available for a given account the next year.
The actual 2009 Annual Budget, as it has been developed so far shows that the $24,361,994 total available funds for the General Fund is comprised of the 2007 Fund Balance of $8,921,643and $15,440,350 of anticipated revenue during the year. If the Fund Balance was “zero” the total available funds for the General Funds would have been only $15,440,350 with no reserve left to make up the approximately $1.4 million in deficit spending it will take to operate the city in 2009.
Furnished Courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.www.bransoncourier.com/view_article.php
