Bayfield town trustees got a look Tuesday evening at future budget scenarios stretching to 2028 and beyond.
Town Manager Chris La May presented budget prospects for the transportation and street funds, capital improvement fund, and general operating fund. Each one had a spreadsheet with year-by-year anticipated revenue and spending, and starting and ending fund balances.
The transportation fund started in 2011 when Colorado Department of Transportation paid the town $6.8 million to take over Bayfield Parkway from end to end. Replacement of the two green bridges over the Pine River will draw that down to around $500,000 this year. La May proposed using that money for a road maintenance project to close out that fund in 2018.
The bridge project is now out for bids. The actual construction is budgeted at $4.7 million plus engineering and design work that bring it to $5.2 million. CDOT off-system bridge funding is providing $2.27 million of that.
The street fund was created for the revenue from an additional 1 percent of sales tax dedicated to street related and drainage projects. Town voters approved raising the town sales tax from 2 percent to 3 percent in 2015. That's projected to bring in $265,969 for the street fund this year. Public works functions were moved in 2016 from the general fund to the street fund. Those are budgeted at $356,505 for this year.
Starting in 2018, La May plans to transfer $200,000 a year from capital improvements to the street fund to save up for more expensive street maintenance projects like mill and overlay, that are good for about 10 years before they need to be done again. La May showed two large street fund projects for 2018 - $800,000 for mill and overlay and OGFC (open graded friction course) on town streets, and $500,000 for stormwater drainage improvements.
La May's spreadsheet shows street fund spending varying widely from year to year - from less than $400,000 in 2016 up to a possible $1.7 million in 2018, and then in between that range all the way to 2036.
The capital improvement fund gets a share of town sales tax. It's budgeted at $265,969 this year, with total revenue of $377,584. Spending includes the annual $267,862 debt payment on the town hall. La May noted that will be paid off this year, freeing up money for other things, the main one being the $200,000 transfer to the street fund. The fund also transfers $102,125 each year to a separate equipment replacement fund.
La May was concerned about one capital improvement revenue source: the money La Plata County pays to lease office space in town hall for the county clerk's annex. It's shown at $40,644 this year. County property tax revenues are continuing several years of decline because of falling oil and gas industry payments.
La May's general fund projections assume 3 percent increases in annual revenue and spending. Revenue this year is budgeted at $1.79 million. Spending is budgeted at $1.76 million. Public safety is the largest spending category, almost half. Operations spending also includes general administration and parks and rec.
Along with La May's budget presentation Tuesday night, trustees approved a contract for geographic information systems (GIS) mapping services, the purchase of two trucks for public works, an RTV utility vehicle from Southwest Ag, replacement items for the water treatment plant, and two submersible pumps that La May called "mission critical" for removal of the old green bridges. The pumps will keep sewage from customers west of the river flowing to the treatment plant during the bridge project.
