Mayor: Proposed budget accounts for downturn

The Morgan City government’s proposed 2016 budget is about $4 million less than the 2015 proposed budget and “takes into account the distressed economic forecast for the coming year,” Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said in his annual budget message.
Grizzaffi presented the budget message during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
The proposed $34.8 million is down from $38.9 million in 2015. The city’s budget operates on the calendar year.
The reduced spending in the 2016 budget is partly due to a $2 million decrease in electricity costs “and controlled measures set in place to keep expenses to a minimum,” Grizzaffi said.
Unlike prior years, predicted revenues aren’t projected to outperform expected expenses, the mayor said.
Because the city’s general fund balance has increased from $560,000 in 2012 to a projected $2.1 million at the end of the year, the city will be able “to absorb this deficit” without losing the ability to make “a limited number of capital expenditures,” Grizzaffi said.
The 2016 budget includes an expected $1 million decrease in sales tax revenues compared to 2014 collections, Grizzaffi said. Many city departments made sacrifices in the proposed 2016 budget, the mayor said.
Central garage expenditures downsized from $424,000 to $219,000.
Capital expenditures in the 2016 budget include $300,000 for water line replacement, $68,000 for a new backhoe, $110,000 for the police department to purchase new vehicles and software, and $66,000 for the fire department to purchase new air masks and tanks, Grizzaffi said.
City council members plan to set a budget workshop date for some time in October, Councilman Barry Dufrene said.
Also during the meeting, the council approved a contract with Water Companies of America to allow the company to look for lost, unbilled water use in the city. Councilman Ron Bias was the lone vote against the contract.
About 40 percent of water, or 1 million gallons per day, leaves the city’s water treatment plant and isn’t accounted for through billing, Grizzaffi said.
Blake Baudoin of Water Companies of America said the company examines billing data and water usage and then checks water meters to see if the meters aren’t being billed properly or if the meters are leaking. Most of the lost funds are found on the billing side, Baudoin said.
The contract is performance-based, and Water Companies of America only gets paid if it finds lost revenues for the city, Baudoin said. The company receives a portion the uncollected revenues it identifies, Baudoin said.
In other business, the council:
—Approved closing Third Street to Everett Street by Lawrence Park for Saturday’s “Jeepers for the Creatures” from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
—Approved changing the November and December council meeting dates to Nov. 16 and Dec. 17.
—Approved amending the city’s solid waste ordinance.
—Approved resolutions for a Municipal Water Pollution Prevention Report, administrative and engineering services for the 2016-17 Louisiana Community Development Block Grant Program, to authorize a signature for a Water Plant Improvements Cooperative Endeavor Agreement and for a change order on the Federal and Bowman Lift Station project.
—Approved the Knights of Columbus Tootsie Roll Drive and a Red Ribbon Week resolution.
—Approved the “Double Trouble Bridge Run” and “Run with the Fuzz.”

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.