Most people’s perception of how the City government deals with your money, comes from their personal experience. To most of us a budget is just a suggestion of how we should spend our money. Sure, we promise to put aside $50 every month so we aren’t short when it’s time to get those Christmas presents, but we don’t have to. We can spend that $50 on things that we need each month and that seem more important to us at that moment. When Christmas comes around, we can pull out the plastic.
This isn’t the way budgets work in City government! Our Derby budget is not just a guideline. The Tax Board votes on the budget in May of each year, department by department, line by line (except for the schools) and that budgeted amount is what the department has available to them for the whole, coming fiscal year. They can’t spend beyond that unless they come before the Tax Board and get a special dispensation due to extenuating circumstances.
What about that fund balance, or what some call the rainy day fund? This is a favorite topic around election time. The fund balance is simply the accumulation of Derby’s left over money. Look in your checking account – do you have $1,000 in there that you don’t need in order to cover an existing obligation? Yes? Then that is your personal fund balance.
Every year we set a budget (these are our planned expenses) and we levy taxes (this is our primary income). To our taxes we also add grants, monies from the Federal and State governments, fees collected for miscellaneous services, interest earned, etc.
At the end of the fiscal year, we take the total collected less the total spent and that difference stays in our fund balance. It’s that simple.
What do we use the fund balance for? Primarily for unanticipated expenses, such as a judgment against us, or for large projects, like the soccer fields at Witek Park, that don’t “fit” in the budget.
When Staffieri took office in 2006 the fund balance was healthy. I won’t give a number because there are many numbers one can use. I will just say it was healthy and it is still healthy. How do I know this? Our City Treasurer gives us a Treasurer’s report at each Tax Board meeting so we are informed. There is also an annual outside audit that examines our funds.
But how do you, the average citizen, know that the fund balance is healthy? Read the papers. When you see that our Bond Rating has gone up and is on a par with Shelton’s then you know our fund balance must be healthy or else we wouldn’t be rewarded like that. A bond rating, basically, is like your personal credit score. If you are bad, then your score goes down, and the reverse is true too of course.
We welcome the public at our Tax Board meeting every month!
The writer, a Republican, is chairwoman of the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation and is running for re-election on that board
Editor’s note: The Valley Indy welcomes ‘guest columns’ from those running for local office. We take each submission on a case-by-case basis. We’ll print up to two a month per candidate. We ask that the columns offer positions and solutions, as opposed to simply criticizing an opponent. We insist on a 500-word limit. If a political opponent takes issue with a guest column, responses are encouraged in our comment section. We encourage candidates to register with Facebook with your first and last name to post a response here. We will not post your responses for you.
