On Monday, June 6, the Bartlesville City Council voted to adopt the 2016-17 Fiscal Year Budget following staff recommendations, as presented to the council during a public meeting on May 23. Adoption of the budget must be done each year prior to the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1, concluding months of work by the City of Bartlesville’s leadership team and Accounting and Finance Department staff.
The adopted budget for the upcoming year will allow continued operations in all areas of City services, as well as increased services and personnel over previous years in a few specific areas. These increases are possible due to the support of Bartlesville voters, who, in October 2015, voted to pass a 0.4 percent sales tax increase for City operations. The tax increase went into effect on Jan. 1, 2016, and was reflected in the March/April sales tax report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
The City began receiving revenues from the increased rate in March. The March sales tax report reflected an actual dollar increase of 9.93 percent; however, if the new rate had not been in effect, March would have represented a decrease of 3 percent. With the rate increase, the City’s sales tax revenues are up 1.76 percent for the year, but without the rate increase, year to date revenues would be down 1.74 percent.
From March to May of the current fiscal year, the 0.4 percent increase has generated about $540,000. This is right in line with the City’s expectations that the increase would generate about $2 million annually.
With the amounts being received from the increase, the City Council has approved a budget that will meet all of the commitments made to the voters of Bartlesville before the election for this tax increase. Without this increase, the City would be preparing for yet another year of stagnant revenues and declining services.
The City of Bartlesville takes its commitments seriously. In the months and weeks leading up the 2015 sales tax election, City leaders committed to restoring or creating several positions that would directly result in improved services for citizens. Funding for these positions is included in the 2016-17 FY Budget, which provides for the hiring of three firefighters, five police officers, two codes officers, six street maintenance workers, 10 parks employees and an engineer. As evidenced by recent job listings on the City’s website, www.cityofbartlesville.org, steps have already been taken to begin filling these positions, and City staff will continue to work diligently to complete the hiring process for all positions as soon as possible.
The proposed budget also restores programs that were discontinued because of declining sales tax revenues over recent years, including $50,000 in funding for the demolition program, which will allow the City to pursue removal of structures that continue to be in violation of City codes. The proposed budget will also put $25,000 back into the street maintenance program and allocate $619,600 toward the capital plan.
While the General Fund provides funding for City operations, Enterprise Funds include revenues from City utilities — water and waste-water. These funds should sustain and provide improvements for our utility systems and cannot be used for other expenditures. The 2016-17 FY Budget includes water rate increases and Capital Improvement Fees for both water and waste-water customers, beginning July 1. The rate increases, which will be phased in over the next five years, will only minimally impact most residential customers but will move the City significantly ahead in its efforts to meet current and future needs of the community.
As communities across the nation face the growing reality of potentially compromised water resources in the future, we must begin the arduous process of ensuring that our water needs are met, now and in the years to come. The solutions to these challenges are not easy, nor are they inexpensive, but they are challenges that we will face, and overcome, as a community — much as we have weathered the fiscal challenges facing our city in recent years.
Speaking on behalf of the city manager’s office and the accounting team that worked so hard on this working document, we are confident the 2016-17 FY Budget will serve the needs of our city well going into the next fiscal year. The City Council has adopted a concise, conservative plan based on projected revenue and expenditures designed to meet citizen needs during the upcoming year — and beyond. City administrators are grateful to the council for its leadership in all aspects of City government, including during this budget process.
And we are grateful to you, the citizens, for your support in October 2015, which made the additions in this budget possible. We recognize the trust you have placed in us, and we will honor every promise made during the election campaign. We have already begun, and we will not stop until the job is done.
To learn more about the City of Bartlesville, visit www.cityofbartlesville.org or call 918- 338-4132. City Council meetings are held the first Monday of every month at City Hall, 401 S. Johnstone Ave., and are open to the public. Special meetings are called as needed.