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With the 2020-2021 fiscal year looming on the horizon, the City of Perryville has been busy compiling its new budget.
According to a draft of the budget provided by city administrator Brent Buerck and city treasurer Paula Terbrak , the city anticipates receiving just under $20.4 million in revenue and puts anticipated expenses at just under $24.9 million, leaving a rather sizeable gap — to the tune of $4.5 million — between the two.
Buerck explained that part of that money is dependent on accessing a loan from the state, something that won’t happen until work on the city’s planned wastewater treatment facility gets underway later this year.
“The easy answer is that, at the end of the year, we are going to be able to access our loan with the state of Missouri for the sewer plant,” Buerck said, “but there’s some expenses we have to cover up to that point. We have to design 30 percent of the plant before we can access our loan through the [Department of Natural Resources.]”
The loan would cover $900,000 of the deficit, which would still leave a difference of approximately $3.6 million, much of which will be used to pay for new sewer construction in the city, including a new lift station and a new trunk line. The money to cover those costs will come from the city’s reserve fund.
According to Buerck, the city maintains a 25 percent capital reserve and a three-month operating reserve, a policy from which the board can deviate for good cause.
“We’re continuing to invest our reserve into our infrastructure,” Buerck said. “We really want to get the sewer problem addressed so nobody has to deal with sewer backing up into their basement, so we’re using some of that money.”
The budget, which has already been approved by the city’s finance committee, is now under review by the city’s Board of Aldermen, which will vote on it in the near future. Before that, the board will get a chance to hear from concerned citizens during a public meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18.
According to the early draft of the budget provided to the Republic-Monitor, the city is anticipating revenue of $5.3 million from the combined waterworks and sewage system, $4.6 million from the sale of natural gas, $4.2 million for general revenue, and $2.2 million from the Parks & Recreation department.
The largest anticipated expenditures are $7.6 million from water and sewer — which includes the new construction — $5.8 million from general revenue, $3.6 million from the gas department, $3.2 million from Parks & Rec and $1.4 million from the street department.
All told, Public Works projects, salaries and equipment account for nearly 80 percent of the city’s budgeted expenses.
Other requests listed on the proposed budget include $7,800 for an increase in on-call pay for Public Works employees — namely the gas, street and water departments — raising the rate from $100 to $150 per week; $50,000 for a broadband study to evaluate internet connectivity for the city to ensure speeds are conducive to business and home use; $120,000 for work related to upgrading the city pool’s discharge into the sewer system; and $261,500 for work relating to locker room remodeling and the addition of a family changing room at the Perry Park Center.
