First looks at the Budget Summary

Well, I've read through the budget summary... and some things just don't add up.

Let's start with expenditures:

• Why are we trying to increase our Contingency account from 1,080,777 to 1,721,645? That's an increase of 59%!!!
• Why has our operating charges increased by 19%?
• Can't we possibly cut our Human Resources expenses more than 2%?
• Why does the library cost $1.446 million to run? Doesn't the library have its own large endowment??? What is this 'Village Improvement Association' that we are paying into?
• How can it possibly be that city insurrance should increase from 53,290 up to $593,801???
• If the number of city employees is cut in about half (by the charts provided), then why are we budgeting about $1 million more for pensions and hospitalizations?
• If the number of employees has really halved, then why hasn't expenditures on their salaries halved?
• Does it really cost $90,000 to run the compost site?
• Why is their an increase in the cost of grounds & Building maintenance, and highway and park maintenance?
  

Then, there is the non-tax revenues. This is income from sources OTHER than current taxes.

• Did we really reduce our non-current taxes to a point where we think we'll collect less than 52% of the amounts we collected in previous years, or did we sell off our old tax collections for pennies on the dollar? If current property tax interest has increased from 275,000 to 400,000, doesn't it stand that we have a large amount to collect?
  
• Why is the column of 'Other Revenues' down by 40%?
• Why did we see a dramatic decrease in the total value of Building permits in 2005?? Did we stop enforcing them? Did we reduce the COST of building permits??? We had quite a few new home construction projects begin in 2005, both on Chase Lane, as well as Morgan Lane, and a few other locations as well...
  
• Why do we expect to see less revenues for animal licenses?
  
• Why is the cost of alcholic beverage licenses so low?
• Why is the value of police license & protection permits reduced from previous years?
• Why do we expect to see less revenue from Parks & Rec??
• Why are tax fines & penalties so low?
• Why are grants for school building & construction 1/3 of what has been allocated previously? For the past 4 years, the lowest figure that we received was > $3,000,000, yet we only have $1,000,000 budgetted!
• Why has the Property Tax relief (manufacturing) amount gone down? Is it because we are losing manufacturing plants?
• Why did we allot nothing for the 'Fed cops grant & Fed misc.'? In the past, we've received roughly $150,000 per year.
• Why are we charging Orange only $77,500 for sewage use, when last year we charged them nearly $500,000???? I think this MUST be a mistake!
• Why have we budgetted less income from vaccines & flu shots?
• Why are we receiving about $5000 less in organic recycleing and compost fees?
• Why do we have so much less income from bonds?
• Why are we barely turning a profit on the Savin Rock Conference Center??
  

Some other potential sources of income, no matter how small:

• Why not charge a small but reasonable fee for the use of public internet access at the library?
• Why not increase fees to rent the large library meeting room, which, at least a couple of years ago, only cost $20 to rent?
• While the bookmobile is really a nice feature, is it possible that the program should find other sources of funding this year?
• Why does the Visiting Nurses Association cost us money?
• Is it possible to increase fees for summer youth programs?
• Why not allow LICENSED venders to operate along the boardwalk (on the side away from the ocean) near the bandstand?