FYE 14 Budget prelim - City of Norman

these “excess” PSST funds for priority public safety capital needs, along with the$4,500,000 of excess PSST funds that were allocated in the FYE 2013 budget(replacement of two fire trucks; replacement of Computer Aided Dispatch and RecordsManagement systems; refurbishment of the Smalley Center into a Police OperationsFacility), and as directed by Council, the PSST Fund is still projected to have a fundbalance at the end of the tax revenue collection period that would financially enable theadded positions to be maintained for a longer period than the six month minimum period.Council has stated its intent to consider a voter referendum to renew the PSST well inadvance of the termination of the existing temporary Public Safety Sales Tax.Norman Room Tax IncreaseOn April 2, 2013, the voters of Norman approved an increase in the Norman TransientGuest Room Tax from four percent (4%) to five percent (5%). The new tax rate isanticipated to generate approximately $300,000 in additional revenue in fiscal year 2013-2014, which will be used to expand existing programs in tourism and conventionattraction and development; promotion of the arts and humanities; and enhancement ofCity of Norman park and recreation facilities. As discussed above, the FYE 2014attempts to position Norman for growth, and the additional Room Tax revenue willenable that growth to be targeted to areas that will attract contributions to the Normaneconomy from visitors to the City, while improving the quality of life for Normanresidents.Capital Expenditure Budget PreparationMajor City of Norman capital improvement projects are funded by the dedicated 7/10%(0.7%) capital sales tax, utility funds, bond issuances and other sources, and are discussedin detail in the separate Capital Improvement Projects Budget document. The CapitalSales Tax (CST) also funds capital equipment, fleet and computer replacement and other“capital outlay” items through transfers from the Capital Fund to the General Fund orrelated special revenue funds.Like other full-service municipalities, the City of Norman depends on equipment todeliver vital City services. The City has millions of dollars invested in its fleet of rollingstock and in its automated computer, telephone and radio systems. The replacement ofthis equipment is an ongoing and high priority budget need. There is an ongoingconcern, however that the costs for replacing the City’s equipment is increasing fasterthan the CST revenues made available to replace it. While the proposed budget allocatesover $2,000,000 to the replacement of the City’s rolling stock, over $10 million of criticalreplacement needs were identified by the Fleet Management Division. Along with theongoing concerns for funding General Fund operations discussed above, this concern willneed to be addressed both from decreased expenditure (i.e., reducing the fleet) andrevenue approaches (i.e., finding new sources of revenue for replacing some areas of thefleet). An ongoing Fleet Management study will examine this issue from the standpointof outside experts.x