Solon General Fund Budget Balanced at Nearly $31.5 Million

Solon City Council's finance committee got started Monday on the involved process of approving an annual budget for the city.

On Monday, the committee met with the police and fire chiefs and the department heads of the service, engineering and water reclamation departments to discuss their budget requests.

Finance Director Bill Weber estimated that the city will collect $38.2 million in income taxes in 2011, a 2.4 percent increase over the 2010 collections. Solon collects income tax is at a rate of 2 percent.

After administrative expenses and refunds, more than $27.1 million of the income tax receipts will be allocated to the city's general fund, which covers the operations of most of the city departments. Income taxes make up 86 percent of the general fund's revenue.

More than $9 million will be allocated to the city's infrastructure fund, used to pay for improvement projects around the city.

Other highlights:

• The general fund payroll budget is about $17.1 million, $484,123 less than what was budgeted in 2010. But the estimated payroll expense for 2011 is $182,144 – about 1.1 percent – more than what was actually spent in 2010.

• Because the city is going to be able to control payroll increases this year and expects additional income tax revenue, the city can transfer more than $1.1 million into one of its capital improvement funds, which may be used for projects including a more than $800,000 replacement of the Service Department roof.
• Grantwood Golf Course, which is owned by the city, is expected to make money this year. Estimated costs are about $1.28 milion while revenues are expected to be about $1.3 million.
• Solon's sewage plant is expected to operate in the red again this year, but staff continue to explore ways to save money, including outsourcing some of the functions of the plant.
• Fuel prices are a major concern. Service Director Tom Bandiera has estimated fuel costs to increase by as much as 30 percent this year, from an average of about $2.58 per gallon in 2010 to about $3.30 to $3.40 cents this year. That has a big effect on departments that use lots of vehicles, such as service, police and fire.

The hearings will continue next Monday, and possibly on Wednesday if needed. The committee will then pass the budget on the full council for their approval, which must happen before the end of March.

Solon Patch is working to obtain a copy of the entire budget so we can post it on the site for our readers. Stay tuned.