Council approves distribution of positive fund balance
At its regular meeting on Thursday, the Sierra Vista City Council voted to distribute the City’s positive fund balance from Fiscal Year 2022/2023 to streets improvements, capital projects, and the retirement fund for public safety personnel.
When closing out the books for the 2022/2023 fiscal year, the City of Sierra Vista’s fiscally conservative approach to budgeting led to having $5.6 million in revenue left after all expenditures cleared for the last fiscal year, ending on June 30, 2023. On Thursday, City Council voted to approve staff recommendations to transfer $2 million to the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF), $1 million to the Capital Improvements Fund (CIF), and to make an additional payment of $2 million to the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS).
The HURF and CIF transfers will help fund potential FY 2024/25 projects, including the North Garden Avenue streetscape project in the event the City cannot secure grant funding. The PSPRS payment will be split with $1,250,000 towards the police department unfunded liability and $750,000 to the firefighters’. The additional $600,000 will help grow the unrestricted General Fund Reserves by about 8%, bringing that balance to a projected total of $7.77 million.
“By being conservative in projecting revenues for the budget, we ensure that we can take care of our staff, maintain service levels, and move key projects forward even if we receive less funding than anticipated,” City Manager Chuck Potucek says. “It’s much better to be in this position where we can use a positive fund balance to make strategic investments in projects and improve our budget outlook in the future.”
In other business:
- Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn Umphrey presented the City’s Chief Financial Officer David Felix with an Award of Financial Reporting Achievement from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for excellence in financial reporting.
- City Council heard funding requests for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Funding is being considered for Good Neighbor Alliance, Boys and Girls Club of Sierra Vista, United Way of Sierra Vista and Cochise County, and City of Sierra Vista projects, including Montebello neighborhood fire safety improvements and general program administration.
- City Council voted to abandon a portion of right-of-way along Charleston Road that exceeds the 100-foot-wide width. Ownership of the property will transfer to Cochise Crossroads, where it can be used for future development.
- City Council approved acceptance of sewer easements along Northeast Highway 90-92 to allow the construction of a public sewer line to bypass a failing sewer line and better serve the area.
- City Council accepted the resignation of Shelly Short from the Environmental Stewardship Commission.
