by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The Council Auditor’s efficiency review ad hoc committee is one step closer to finalizing the entire City budget. Tasked with taking on the 2 percent of the budget that City Council President Daniel Davis placed “below the line,” the committee comprised of Council members Jack Webb, Stephen Joost and Mia Jones has worked with Council Auditor Kirk Sherman and his staff to analyze every department’s budget and determine how much — if any — of the 2 percent will be returned.
Tuesday, the committee — minus Jones — went over the Public Library and Recreation and Community Services budgets. Between the two budgets, nearly $2 million falls under the 2 percent operating lapse.
The primary lapses in the library’s budget are just over $44,000 in administrative costs and another $731,548 in costs associated with running the Main Library and some of the branch libraries.
“There’s a large administrative staff and there is some overlap,” said Sherman.
The main area of concern seems to be the conference center at the Main Library which has meeting rooms and is supported by library personnel. According to Barrett King, an executive assistant with the library system, the conference center is funded through the Library Conference Facility Trust Fund, which is funded primarily through user fees. However, the personnel that work in the center are budgeted through the library’s general fund.
“We recommend at the end of it all, the direct costs be charged against the Library Trust Fund,” said Sherman.
Of the over $700,000 below the line in the library’s budget, a sizable chunk is in the form of $374,158 from the IKON settlement, which was a legal dispute between the City and the company that provided copying equipment and other supplies to the library. While the amount was budgeted, Sherman has recommended that it not be restored and King agreed.
In examining the Recreation and Community Services budget, Sherman and his staff produced a 31-page analysis that covers everything from public service grants to the Zoological Society to how much the City spends each year helping agencies that assist in applying the Baker Act to someone. Some of the figures put below the line seem minimal ($2,928 in the independent living budget) while others could have a much bigger impact if not restored ($86,932 in the Office of Special Events budget, which Sherman recommends not be restored).
Once all of the budgets have been analyzed line-by-line, the committee will take its findings to Davis for review.
“At the end of the process, I’d anticipate the three of us (Webb, Joost and Jones) will co-author and report and give it to the Council president,” said Webb. “There is an end to all of this.”
While Webb sees an end to the work of the committee this year, Joost believes this after-the-fact analysis may become an annual task of a few Council members.
“Unfortunately, next year we will probably be back at the table,” he said.
“This is just a learning curve,” added Webb.
The following are just a few of the line items in the Recreation and Community Services budget, the amount budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year and the amount put “under the line.”
• Independent Living — $261,345 ($2,928)
• Criminal Justice Substance Abuse Program — $1.764 million ($36,002)
• Behavioral/Mental Health-general assistance — $6.97 million ($142,360)
• Baker Act — $1.2 million ($24,387)
• Medicaid Inpatient Hospital Care — $7.78 million ($155,506)
• Medicaid Nursing Home Care — $1.6 million ($33,569)
• Victim Services — $1.25 million ($25,642)
• Office of the Director — $11.75 million ($236,712)
• Cooperative Extension Office-Agriculture — $879,743 ($18,000)