City Council Review - May 8

Tuesday night we had a special meeting of the Council in order to focus on the budget. According to the report, the budget represents the Council’s “desire to provide a high level of service to residents and the business community of Lake Forest while conservatively managing the City’s finances. The proposed budgets are balanced and consistent with the City’s fiscal policies.”

The major initiatives reflected in the draft Fiscal Year 2018-19 Operating Budget include:

• Construction of the Lake Forest Civic Center
• Implementation of Five Year Strategic Plan initiatives such as payoff of the City’s outstanding bond debt, investment in pavement and infrastructure, and development of new parks
• Updating the Lake Forest General Plan
• Delivering the projects in the Fiscal Year 2017-19 Capital Improvement Project’s Budget.

The City’s proposed total budget consists of $61.1 million in revenues and $83.5 million in total expenditures ($25.9 million of expenditures is one-time capital projects).

The proposed General Fund operating budget consists of $49.0 million in revenues, $47.1 million in General Fund operating expenditures, and $16.6 million in net transfers out (funding of capital projects).

At the end of Fiscal Year 2018-19, General Fund revenues over expenditures will increase by approximately $1.9 million. Reserve funds will remain fully funded at required levels (i.e., 40% of General Fund revenues).

Among the discretionary items the Council decided to

• Fund $1,200 to purchase dashboard software to measure progress in important city projects
• Fund $2,000 for a “Hometown Hero Program”, with more details to be worked out by the Planning Commission.
• Fund Pet Adoption Center with an additional $15,000 for the next fiscal year.
• Fund $9,600 for additional canvassing for dog licenses since our experience last year is that we more than funded this expense with the added revenue.
• Fund $130,000 for the dedicated Parking Enforcement Officer, with continuing data to support the decision.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His Twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be May 17 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).