Hubbard City council unanimously approves $6.4M 2012 budget

By Robert Guttersohn | March 6, 2012 at 12:01a.m.

Hubbard

City council on Monday unanimously approved a $6.4 million 2012 budget, balancing its general fund before the state-mandated March 31 deadline.

Going into Monday’s meeting the city had to rid the budget of a $55,000 deficit in its general fund.

Council voted to do so by reducing the police department budget by about $50,000 and for the second year in row hold off funding to parks and recreation, which was funded $36,000 from the general fund in 2010, said city Auditor Michael Villano.

In February, the city saved another $80,000 in its general fund by pulling funding to capital improvement projects.

But with the possibility of next year’s budget looking bleaker, the city is looking at more long-term solutions.

“We came up with a lot of good ideas on getting the budget balanced,” said Ray Moffitt, councilman at large and budget committee chairman.

Officials hope the fees the city is in the middle of imposing on Internet cafes as part of a pre-emptive zoning ordinance will increase revenues to the general fund.

City council will vote on the fees at its next meeting March 19.

The city also is looking at restructuring its long-term debt by restructuring a $10 million,10-year bond, for which it still owes $1.6 million.

Hubbard, in 2005, financed a number of capital projects, including a new police department and some sewer work.

Yearly, the city pays out $525,000 for the bond.

Villano said he has already begun speaking with financial institutions interested in refinancing the bond at lower interest rates, which would include extending the bond an additional three years.

This, he said, would lower the yearly payments to $120,000 a year.