The city expects to spend about $51 million for the entirety of 2021 in terms of its general fund, leaving a projected deficit of $3.1 million.
The deficit will be covered by the city’s “rainy day” fund that is projected to have about $10.7 million by the end of 2021.
The projected budget for 2021 was presented to Springfield City Commissioners this week and they are expected to vote to approve it by the end of this month.
Mark Beckdahl, the finance director for the city of Springfield, went through projected general fund revenues and expenditures planned for 2021 during the virtual meeting on Tuesday.
Overall general fund revenue for 2021 is projected to be 1.9% less than what those revenues are projected for by the end of this year.
Revised projections for this year show general fund revenues to be $48.9 million. Those projections were changed due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The city also cut back on spending this year. Those changes were made at a time when the city was uncertain of the financial impact the coronavirus pandemic would have.
“We cut a million in expenditures. Due to (the pandemic) we did not know where we were going to end up,” Beckdahl said.
However, the city is expected to break even for 2020, if not have a small surplus due to limited spending as well as only seeing a 1% drop in income tax revenues.
That comes after city officials originally expected a deficit of over $2 million for 2020. But, that projection was made before the onset of the pandemic.
The projected deficit for 2021 includes money that is expected to be transferred from the general fund to pay for several scheduled projects and equipment cost.
That includes $2 million for the city’s road program and $1 million in other equipment and capital investments.
The city is expected to purchase equipment for its police and fire divisions, including one fire truck, eight police cruisers, one police staff services vehicle as well as police in-car cameras.
What the city is expected to spend out of its general fund next year is made with the assumption of full personnel levels that are projected to be approximately 564 staffers, Beckdahl said.
Staffing levels are less than what was projected for 2020 since city dispatchers will be under the Clark County Sheriff’s Office starting at the beginning of 2021.
The city also expects that 55% of general fund expenditures will be related to public safety, accounting for about $28 million. That includes a police force of 130 officers and a fire division that employs 127 firefighters/paramedics.
The city’s court system is expected to spend $5.1 million next year.
By the numbers:
$47.9 million - Springfield’s projected general fund revenues for 2021
$51 million - Springfield’s projected expenditures for 2021.
$40 million: Amount of income tax the city is expected to collect in 2021.
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