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Officials seek recovery plan for Campbell
By jeanne starmack
campbell
The city must have a new recovery plan with specific information about what it will do if it doesn’t receive anticipated revenues.
Paul Marshall, chairman of a commission that oversees the city while it’s in fiscal emergency, told Mayor George Krinos at a commission meeting Monday that he must have the plan ready by the next meeting Oct. 18.
A five-year recovery plan is required under Ohio law while a city is in fiscal emergency, as Campbell has been since 2004.
The city has averted a 2010 shutdown with a revised 2010 budget. The budget means the city will have $806,415 carry-over into 2011.
The carry-over includes $54,000 saved by the budget revisions and the previous carry-over of $752,000.
The carry-over is a cash reserve, explained Marshall, and shouldn’t be considered operating money. It is for emergencies, he said. “So if revenues decline, you don’t have a problem,” he added.
“We need to keep that cash,” he said. “You can’t spend down your reserves.”
The city is spending more than it is taking in each of the next four years, he said.
In 2011, the city is projected to spend $236,600 more than it is taking in. In 2012, that figure climbs to $303,000. In 2013, it rises to $386,266. In 2014, it’s $483,740. At that time, the city would have a budget deficit of $604,000, including depletion of its carry-over.
Marshall said he will not allow that deficit-spending to continue.
The commission reported that a decline in income-tax revenue has leveled off again. Collections are down $110,000 from what they should be by this time of the year.