Council Approves Over $1.3 Million for Projects and More

The  approved over $1 million in expenditures with two back-to-back unanimous votes.

After reviewing the city's third quarter budget, the council voted to allocate $500,000 to begin planning a downtown trash enclosure/paseo project outlined in the Downtown Specific Plan.

The council also approved Approximately $1.1 million will be needed to complete the update over the next two years.

City of Gilroy Finance Director Christina Turner said the city's projected fund balance amounts to $81,327,300 as of June 30, which includes a General Fund balance of $19,628,059 and an Enterprise Funds balance of $44,732,192.

Turner also reported that staff estimates liability and property premiums will exceed the city’s budget by about $110,000. The General Fund will cover $75,000 of this, with the remainder coming out of other operating funds.

In a follow-up report, Turner presented several amendments to the city’s Fiscal Year 2013 Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Budget to allow for additional expenditures.

The expenditures include:

• $35,000 to hire an information technology manager to assist in the oversight and service delivery of the IT division
• $70,685 for a REACT officer
• $25,090 to match a $250,9000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), of which the city is responsible to match 10 percent of the grant
• $57,178 to cover part-time wages incurred in the Santa Clara Valley Habitat
• $115,000 for landscape services
• $60,000 for Discovery Gilroy
• $125,000 to deploy a new wireless system in downtown and other locations in the city to speed up WiFi

In total, Turner presented $803,000 in expenditures. However, because the city has been spending conservatively and expects an increase in sales tax revenue offset by a decrease in development revenue, the city should have a surplus of up to $55,000, she said.

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