City/county hope to minimize economy’s impact on budgets on The Murfreesboro Post

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City/county hope to minimize economy’s impact on budgets

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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer

Posted: Sunday, January 25, 2009 8:30 am

Both Rutherford County and Murfreesboro will do all they can to keep the services citizens expect off the chopping block when budget talks begin next month, local government officials said.

“Much like our own household budget, we are all tightening our belt,” explained Rob Lyons, deputy city manager. “At this point in the process, it is too early to tell what changes might be necessary, but we will work hard to meet these challenges with as little impact as possible.”

But until they know the state’s fiscal condition, there’s no way to know what will be cut, County Finance Director Lisa Nolen said.

“The direction from the mayor (Ernest Burgess) at this time is to eliminate (new) equipment, furniture and fixtures; for salaries to remain flat; no promotions or new positions; and no (new) vehicles except for EMS and sheriff's office,” she continued, explaining specifics won’t be known until she knows the final state numbers in June or July.

And the news from Nashville is dismal; Gov. Phil Bredesen is preparing for an $800 million to $1.2 billion shortfall in revenue on the state level and has asked departments to cut up to 20 percent from their budgets.

In the past year, the city and county both have frozen their budgets to control spending to deal with the economic crisis. And, with the state in dire straights, both governments expect more cuts until the economy picks back up.

During the budget process last year, the county asked departments for cuts by limiting funds for office supplies, training and travel, and freezing county employee salaries.

Murfreesboro also enacted a budget freeze in October and cut $900,000 from the city budget and put a freeze on hiring for new and vacant positions.

Lyons said city departments have already been asked to reduce budgets in preparation for the budgeting process for the next fiscal year. He expects the first round of budget talks to begin in February.

“Because of the uncertainty over the economy and the potential impact created by the state's budget shortfalls, the city (Murfreesboro) is initiating its budget process earlier this year,” Lyons said.

“Additionally, the city has also been closely monitoring its revenue collections. Preliminary reports show that property tax collections have been on target,” Lyons said.

But sales tax collections are down 2 percent from what Murfreesboro budgeted.

“The city has also seen decreases in building permit fees and revenues with the slowdown in new construction,” Lyons said.

Rutherford County also has seen a slowdown in fees and building permits from last year, and they are down substantially compared to the last five years.

Sales tax revenues in the county are slightly better than the rest of the state, Nolen said.

The county has seen a 3.13 percent increase over last year, which is more than the budgeted increase of 2 percent, she added.

Nolen said fiscal year 2009-2010 will be just as tough, but there’s nothing definite to say until the state numbers are final.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

Tagged under CITY, RUCO

Member Opinions:

By: diddlede on 1/25/09
Good to know that the city and county are taking steps to minimize the impact on taxpayers for the next budget year. It is still strange they are spending on "wants" and not "needs". Cannot understand why we are in such dire need of tennis courts. MTSU has always been very generous in allowing the city and county the use of their facilities. I'm sure something could have been worked out on the use of MTSU tennis courts.

By: ItsGood on 1/25/09
diddle, part of the courts at MT are going to be removed soon for the aligning of Middle Tennessee Boulevard at Greenland.

Second, the use of the courts during MT Tennis season might be a problem for the local schools.

Funny how folks want MT to give, give, give yet folks do not support nor give back to MT that much locally.

Middle Tennessee State, supporting the local economy since 1911 - thank you students, faculty, staff, and supporters.

By: barrettbear on 1/25/09
It sounds like people want, want, want, everyday.

Then quite shy of give,give,give.

MTSU gets government funding just like the city and county. Sounds like neither party is willing to work together, these days, who does?

By: archosignis on 1/25/09
Has anyone seen those new blue signs on the side of the road all around town? They seem kind of pointless to me, I wonder how much they cost... It seems superfluous things like the signs are what need to be cut.

By: barrettbear on 1/26/09
Why does a city need a mayor, city manager and a deputy city manager? Could the Governor's mansion in Nashville hold off on the new cocktail/ballroom that was built on.

I tell you, cuts are going to be so bad everywhere, that eventually, people's safety
is going to be compromised.

By: bota on 1/26/09
"He expects the first round of budget talks to begin in February."

This will dictate the amount of the property tax increase that would have come last year if we had a City Manager who understood business finances. Rob Lyons will be a big improvement over Roger Haley.

By: justdance on 1/27/09

The blue signs are a done deal, let's move on.