Page 60 - Watauga FY22-23 Budget

BUDGET OVERVIEW – BUDGET-IN-BRIEF

and 2020-21. The City earned and expended all of the funds by December 31, 2020 as
outlined in the CARES Act funding guidelines.

The American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
(CLFRF) provides funding to local governments to broadly respond to the COVID-19
public health emergency and restore governments to pre-pandemic staffing levels and
for the provision of general government services. Two tranches of payments will be
made to local governments serving populations under 50,000. The City will receive a
total of $6.066 million in CLFRF funding over the next two years. The City received
$3.033 million in August, 2021 and the second tranche is expected August of 2022. In
July 2022, the City Council approved the Spending Plan Framework for the ARPA
funds. In FY2022-2023, $4,108,200 has been budgeted in revenues and expenditures,
of which 67%, or $2,766,000 are infrastructure projects that will commence and
continue over the next few years. These include the lead pipe identification project,
enhanced funding for a water and sewer project, and the Park Vista drainage project.
Additional funding is provided for personnel programs to target recruitment and retaining
staff, leave bank reduction programs, and equipment such as personal protective
equipment for the fire department and a generator for the water tower.

Proprietary Funds

Storm Drainage Fund

A $11.00 fee per month per residential utility account was adopted through the Code of
Ordinances, to enhance drainage of properties within the City. Commercial accounts are
charged a uniform rate, but the amount charged is based on impervious area. The fee is
billed and collected through the Utility Billing Office and is 99.8% of the Storm Drain Utility
Revenues. Projections are based on the active accounts and rate charges. The last fee
review was conducted in FY2020.

Total charges for services are forecast to be $1,480,000 for service charges, with total
revenues of $1,482,000. The operating expenditure budget is $814,900. This year,
$2,706,160 in capital projects are included in the budget to include the drainage portion
of Whitley Road Phase 2-4, and the Drainage Master Plan. The projected ending fund
resources will be $1,251,335 if all budgeted capital projects are completed.

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