Resolution No. 5146 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The largest fund is the General Fund, which is the general operating fund for the City. In preparation for the FY16 budget, the General Fund forecast was updated to provide policy makers with the financial outlook for the fund. After closing a nearly $30.0 million gap in the General Fund budget over the past several years and reducing the annual operating budget growth rate from 6.2% in FY03 through FY09 to 1.5% in FY10 through FY15, the City is projected to have greater fiscal stability in the future. Revenues are projected to grow by 4.1% on an annual basis from FY16 through FY21, while expenses are projected to grow by 3.8% over the same time period. The FY16 budget process was more straightforward compared to years prior in part because this is the first year that the General Fund forecast did not indicate a long-term structural budget gap. The hard work of staff, elected officials, community partners and the Budget Committee over the last several years successfully created a stable budget environment that provided funding for current service levels this fiscal year, while adding a few additional services and maintaining the reserve for potential revenue shortfalls. The FY16 Adopted Budget includes the Budget Committee’s full recommendation to provide ongoing funding for the Sheldon Branch Library, paid sick leave costs for temporary City of Eugene employees, as well as one-time funding for a Police evidence control unit, neighborhood association materials and outreach, and the Human Services Commission. The City also committed resources for replacing City-wide software systems to increase efficiency and enhance the technology that helps staff manage business and administrative processes such as accounts payable, human resources, payroll, general ledger, budget, receivables and purchasing. FY16 General Fund budget changes total $1.2 million and non-general fund changes total $8.9 million. In March 2015, the City Council approved the FY16-21 Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The CIP forecasts the City’s capital needs over a six-year period based on various long-range plans, goals, and policies. The underlying strategy of the CIP is to plan for land acquisition, construction, and major maintenance of public facilities necessary for the safe and efficient management of City assets. A critical element of a balanced CIP is the provision of funds to preserve or enhance existing facilities and provide new assets which will help the City respond to changing service needs and community growth. The program is approved every other year and serves as the basis for the capital budget for the next two fiscal years. The FY16-21 CIP totals $171.2 million in projects with funding secured or identified from a variety of sources. The capital budget for FY16 totals $32.3 million. Transportation is the largest CIP category with a total allocation of $62.5 million, of which $54.5 million is dedicated towards pavement preservation and road maintenance. Airport capital improvements, including the terminal building expansion, Concourse C addition, automated rental car wash facility, access improvements and preservation and maintenance projects, will account for $42.1 million. About $21.6 million for public buildings will primarily be invested in preservation and capital maintenance of existing City facilities. Improvements to preserve and rehabilitate the City’s wastewater system will be funded with $15.9 million. Under the City’s stormwater program, drywell decommissioning, stream corridor acquisition, bank stabilization and stream restoration, and system upgrades and capacity enhancements are to be funded at $15.4 million. Approximately $13.7 million in anticipated capital spending will be for parks and open space projects. In January 2015, the City’s Executive Team reviewed the Multi-Year Financial Plan (MYFP) for FY16-21. The MYFP was subsequently provided to the Mayor and the City’s Budget Committee in April 2015 as part of the FY16 budget process. The MYFP is a compilation of significant, unfunded challenges and opportunities that the City is expected to encounter over the next six fiscal years. It serves as a strategic planning tool and helps address Council’s goal for “Fair, Stable, and Adequate Resources.” It provides an important means to improve the City’s ability to link the Council goals process, the Capital Improvement Program, the General Fund Six-Year Forecast, other projects or specific strategic plans, and the annual budget process. The FY16-21 MYFP identified 59 items with total estimated unfunded costs of about $450.0 million. Some of the largest unfunded costs by service category include $133.9 million for community centers, $82.7 million for transportation, $59.1 million for public buildings and facilities, $35.1 million for emergency medical/fire services, nications. Many of these items would $32.8 million for Municipal Court, and $25.1 million for fleet and radio commu also have ongoing fiscal impacts on the operating budget that would also need to be considered in order for the City’s budget to be sustainable. With the significant amount of future capital projects, as well as identified unfunded needs, the City also recognizes the need to be thoughtful and deliberate in planning future debt levels. As a result, the City has developed a Debt Capacity Analysis that is generally updated every two years in conjunction with the CIP update. This study looks at not just the legally allowable level of debt, but the level of debt that the community would consider affordable, given the community’s ability and willingness to pay for that debt. The Budget Committee adopted a debt policy limit of net direct debt of no more than 1% of real market value of property. The Debt Capacity Analysis measures future 5