The Bartlesville City Council on Monday (June 5) voted 5-0 to adopt the proposed City budget for the 2017-18 Fiscal Year as well as planned capital projects for the year as outlined in the voter-approved Capital Improvements Projects Program.
The 2017-18 fiscal year starts July 1, 2017, and ends June 30, 2018.
According to Administrative Director/CFO Mike Bailey, the proposed budget was completed figuring an anticipated sales tax revenue increase of 1.3 percent. The anticipated increase is based on several factors, Bailey said.
“There were a lot of factors that played into this,” he said. “One of the major things is, we stopped receiving payments from Hastings and Sears after they closed in October and November of last year. Once we reach October and November of this year, we’ll no longer be comparing ourselves to months when we had those stores open. So that was a significant bump … once we get past that, as we’ve said, we’ll be comparing ‘bad apples to bad apples.’ It’s much easier to have an increase once you’ve reached the same baseline.
“The other major factor, of course, is the Silver Lake Village (development). Phase 1 of that is currently under construction and looks to be on-track right now. Phase 2 is still in the permitting process, but (we have) no reason to believe it will not go forward. Phase 1 will have a significant impact, and the numbers that we’ve seen indicate Phase 2 will have just as great an impact.”
Bailey said Phase 1 of the development is expected to be online this fall and Phase 2, barring complications, should be online shortly after the first of the year.
“Those are huge developments in the City of Bartlesville,” Bailey said. “We have not seen this level of retail development in Bartlesville since, probably, the ’80s.”
Silver Lake Village includes major retail development on Adams Boulevard just east of Silver Lake Road.
To view the approved budget in its entirety, see City Budget 2017-18 Fical Year.
Capital Improvements Projects
The council also voted to approve Capital Improvements Projects (CIP) recommended for funding during the 2017-18 Fiscal Year. Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said new projects include funding from four City funds: Waste Water Fund, Waste Water Regulatory Fund, Capital Reserve Fund and the Half-cent Sales Tax.
Siemers said $125,000 in Waste Water Treatment Plant improvements will be funded through the Waste Water Fund, which is comprised of revenue collected from the Sanitary Sewer Assessment Fee associated with new development and subdivisions in Bartlesville.
He said $950,000 from the Waste Water Regulatory Fund will pay for sewer line replacement starting at Brookline and Harvard and extending about 1,000 east of Madison Boulevard.
Approximately $3.8 million from the Capital Reserve Fund will be used to purchase equipment, primarily, including a casket lift at the City-owned White Rose Cemetery as well as computers and other items for the IT Department.
Half-cent sales tax funds will be used to complete $2.2 million in storm water drainage system improvements in east downtown, from the Price Tower to the Caney River, and to purchase new police vehicles, a pumper fire truck and two new dump trucks. There is also $85,000 in the fund allocated as matching funds for the Community Block Grant Small Cities Set-Aside program — a federal grant program administered by the State aimed at making improvements to low to moderate income neighborhoods. While discussing a separate agenda item on Monday, the council voted to adopt a citizen participation plan for the 2017 program. A public hearing will be held June 20 to discuss possible projects for the grant and matching City funds.
To view CIP projects for FY 2017-18, see CIP Budget FY 2017-18.