What you need to know about Idaho Falls $11.6 million budget increase

IDAHO FALLS — Here is what the city’s proposed $11.6 million budget increase will pay for and where the money will come from.

The city of Idaho Falls is holding a public hearing Thursday at 7 p.m at the City Annex Building. to get the people’s input on the proposed 2019 fiscal year budget. EastIdahoNews.com spoke with the Idaho Falls Municipal Services Director Pamela Alexander to get a better understanding of what the public needs to know to be prepared for the hearing.

The city expects to take in $206.5 million in property taxes and other revenue sources — up from the $194.9 million it brought in last fiscal year. Of that amount, $33.9 million comes from property taxes and $172.9 million from other revenue sources, which allows for the increase.

General fund

The city’s general fund had a net increase of $1.3 million with the largest portions of that increase going to the police and fire departments. The police department’s budget increased by $1.3 million. The fire department’s budget increased by $1 million.

A major decrease in the parks budget allowed for the increases to the police and fire departments.

“Parks went down by $1.5 (million) in the general fund,” Alexander said. “Part of that was because of some of the parks projects we moved down to the Parks Capital Improvement Fund.”

The legal department and municipal services budgets were cut by $81,823.

Special revenue funds

Special revenue funds increased by $3.2 million. The funds with the most significant increases are the Municipal Equipment Replacement Fund, Golf Fund and the Library Fund.

“The Library Fund … they increased by $900,000,” Alexander said. “They’re going to be doing an expansion of the children’s library. They’re going to renovate and repurpose the garage, computer room, meeting rooms and the DVD and CD area.”

The Golf Fund added $149,768 to purchase a new fleet of golf carts for the Sage Lakes Golf Course.

To buy replacement equipment for departments that have vehicles or other equipment that needs to be replaced this upcoming year, the Municipal Equipment Replacement Fund increased by $1.8 million.

Capital projects funds

The Civic Center Capital Improvement and the Parks Capital Improvement funds make up the largest increases to the budget.

The Parks Capital Improvement Fund went up by $2.5 million and includes funding for a variety of projects as well as the $1.5 million that was transferred from the Parks General Fund.

“The Civic Center, that’s $1.1 million, and that’s actually part of the Bill Maeck donation,” Alexander said. “We are not going to get all the work done until after October so after the fiscal year begins. That’s why we put that $1.1 million in there. It’s $750,000 from the city. A portion of it was this fiscal year at $400,000 and the second year was $350,000 on the city’s side. And then Bill Maeck wrote a check for $750,000 that we already have deposited in our bank account for the civic center renovations.”

Also included in the $9.7 million Capital Projects Fund total is a $2.2 million increase to the — normally — $5.2 million Contingency Fund. Alexander said the increase is simply a placeholder for any unexpected expenditures.

Enterprise funds

Enterprise funds received a net $11.6 million increase from $194.9 million to $206.5 million with the biggest increase going to Idaho Falls Power.

“Idaho Falls Power, this is the big one,” Alexander said. “Idaho Falls Power increased their budget by $12.4 million, and there’s a variety of projects they have for that.”

The Airport Fund and Water and Wastewater Fund cut both their budgets, The Airport Fund received a $9 million grant for the 2018 fiscal year allowing the airport to cut $6.9 million out of its 2019 fiscal year budget. Water and Wastewater completed the projects they were working on, allowing them to cut $6.3 million out of their budget.