Spending to get a “closer look in the next five years”
The Henderson City Commission last week preliminarily approved a fiscal year 2025 budget with General Fund expenditures totaling $43.5 million. Those expenses are $2 million more than the current year’s budgeted expenditures.
The FY 2025 General Fund budget also projects revenues to come in at $39.13 million, roughly $4.3 under the budgeted expenditures.
The city commission is expected to approve the FY 2025 budget this Tuesday, when it will hear and vote on the budget’s second reading.
City Finance Director Chelsea Mills said the difference between the budgeted revenues and expenses is not worrisome, partly because the city’s reserves are in good shape. (City Manager Buzzy Newman said the reserves are at $19 million as of Friday.)
“I think we’re in a good position,” Mills said, adding the city is “sitting good for at least the next year.”
Both Mills and Newman said the city creates its budget by overbudgeting on expenses and underbudgeting on revenue.
The current year’s General Fund budget, for example, included budgeted revenue of $36.3 million and expenses of $41.19 million. City Manager Buzzy Newman said he believes once the final audit can be done for the current year later in the summer, he expects revenue will be equal or above expenses.
“I don’t anticipate us having to get into reserves to square the (current) budget,” Newman said.
Mills agreed, saying she doesn’t anticipate needing to use any of the city’s reserve funds.
But though both agree the city will be in good shape this year and in FY 2025—because of its high reserves—they also said it may need to pull back on spending in the next five years.
Mills said expenses will require a “closer look over the next five years.”
Newman said the city has several big projects coming and the city commission will need to determine the best way to fund them—through bonding or reserve funds. He pointed to the construction of the John James Audubon State Park conference center, of which the city (and the county government) must provide a match to state funding; replacing the city’s software; and retiring the current transfer station on Stratman Road and moving to a new location.
The General Fund of the city’s annual budget is the general operating fund of the city.
The city budget also includes numerous other funds. The budgeted total for all funds is $116.62 million. The total budget decreased from last year’s budget primarily because of a decreased Construction Fund budget, down $7.2 million because the sports complex is nearing completion, Mills wrote in a city memo.
Aside from the General Fund, here are the other approved funds of the FY 2025 budget:
Natural Gas Fund, $19.9 million
Health Reimbursement, $180,00
Civil Service Pension Fund, $80,000
Police and Fire Pension Fund, $342,000
Cemetery Fund, $604,000
Health Insurance Fund, $8.57 million
Bond Fund, $9.4 million
Public Way Improvement Fund, $2.2 million
Construction Fund, $20.05 million
HART Operating Fund, $2.03 million
Sanitation Fund, $5.49 million
Emergency Communications Fund, $2.4 million
Sports Complex Fund, $489,000
Tourism Commission Fund, $350,000
Community Development Fund, $823,000
Police Investigation Fund, $93,000