Despite rising expenditures, Littleton looks forward to a balanced budget while taking care of some expired firefighter equipment and postponed employee compensation.
For the proposed 2014 budget, revenues are expected to increase from $48,483,540 last year to $52,475,890 this year and expenditures from the budgeted amount $48,753,540 to $52,073,940.
Littleton Finance Director Doug Farmen said what’s driving most of the expenditures are rising employee costs (with salaries frozen the past few years), a 7 percent increase in health insurance premiums and increased costs from the fire department.
“With salaries being frozen over the past few years and then merit being frozen, the city council has given us permission to increase compensation,” Farmen said.
Capt. Randy Glanville with the Littleton Fire Department said the department needs to replace self-contained breathing apparatus because the manufacturer sets a life span on the equipment, and they are to the point of no longer being certified. The department also is requesting to replace one of its fire engines with a new model that has compressed air foam suppression capabilities. The fire department is asking for $24,286,040 in expenditures, some of which will be reimbursed by partners, including the Highlands Ranch Metropolitan District and Littleton Fire Protection District.
A few years ago, the city bought a new ambulance to improve response times but staffed it by paying overtime. City Manager Michael Penny said those costs are getting to be too much. The budget proposes hiring six firefighter-paramedics for full-time duty.
“We try not to do mandatory overtime because they (firefighers) need to sleep and do other things, so this is just the shift that we were doing overtime,” Penny said.
Construction costs also are rising, as expected, with several capital projects slated in the budget, such as a $150,000 renovation of the city council chambers that Penny said is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Other projects include rebuilding the intersection and installing a new traffic signal at Broadway and County Line Road, with $163,000 coming from the city, and an additional $500,000 for construction of the Littleton Community Trail.
The city also is hoping to hire a full-time marketing and events coordinator to better market and brand the city and its new website, which is budgeted at $127,900.
Mayor Debbie Brinkman said it’s a solid budget, and while she thinks the economy is getting better, officials tried to remain conservative on revenues. She said she was glad revenues were at 17 percent of the general fund, but council needs to watch out for that.
“You don’t want to spend your savings account if you don’t have to, and I think we are seeing a little bump in revenues. I think next year we’ll get some of the construction projects going and we’ll see those, too,” Brinkman said.
She said one of the things still being debated is how to, or how much, to fund the fire department’s requests and what increased employee compensation will look like. She said there wasn’t a lot of debate among council members in study sessions because, despite it being a balanced budget, the city doesn’t have a whole lot with which to work.
Council members told staff they don’t want to go beyond the $500,000 already slated for the community trail. They also voted down drilling a well for Ketring Lake, which lost a lot of water over the summer, but did ask staff to come back with a study on options for filling the lake. Council also requested more reasonable compensation for the marketing and events coordinator.
The first reading of the budget is Oct. 1 and the second reading and public hearing Oct. 15.
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2671 or cwoullard@denverpost.com
