Lima’s finance committee got a mid-year update on how their city budget is looking.
Finance Director Steve Cleaves broke down the various revenues and expenditures from January 1st to through June 30th. He says the general fund budget is right on track, which included a three to four times larger budget for capital projects that the city did this year. Cleaves says revenues for the general funds are slightly above what they were predicting. But one concern is increased staffing levels, especially for the Police and Fire Department and making sure the city can pay for the manpower in years to come.
“We have hired over 50 people in the last 6 years or so. So we need to be able to carry those people, to be able to sustain them,” said Steve Cleaves, Finance Director.
For the remainder of 2018, the city will also keep a close eye on employee health care expenses, which has increased in the past two years. Cleaves says heading into 2019, the city will be taking a more conservative approach to their budget. Especially on the spending side, including a reduced capital budget, because the city is largely caught up on some major projects.
