AGENDA #11

BUDGET WORKING PAPER

TO:	Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
FROM:	Kay Johnson, Finance Director
SUBJECT:	Growth in Parks and Recreation Departmental Budget
DATE:	April 18, 2007

PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is to provide context and supporting information for the growth in the Parks & Recreation Department’s FY 2007-08 budget.

DISCUSSION

The Parks & Recreation Department has significant budget growth for FY 2007-08 that is disproportionate with other departments, but reflects basic department operating needs.  The request for FY 2007-08 is about $2,770,000 and in the current year is about $2,320,000.  The increase in the FY 2007-08 budget over the current year is about 19.5 percent.  This number is smaller than what was presented to Council in the Budget Status Report, due to a revised opening date of the Aquatics Center, discussed below.

The budget increase is largely comprised of the following items:

Tennis Courts	$20,000
Aquatics Center	145,000
Community Center	189,500
Pay increases (3 months’ market adjustments)	22,000
Hepatitis B vaccinations	21,500
	$398,000

• Aquatics Center: The Aquatics Center was scheduled to open in February, which would have required five months of operating funds, for an increase of $225,000; the opening schedule has been revised by the contractors such that only three months of operating funds are now requested, for an increase of $145,000.

• Community Center:

• The Town anticipated a reduction in operating expenses due to the closing and renovation of the Community Center during the process of developing the current year’s budget, and reduced the budget by approximately $167,000.  Funds must be restored for ongoing operations once the Community Center reopens.

• Original plans for reopening the Community Center called for a start date of August 15, 2007 for new operations.  That date has been pushed back to June by the contractor, and Parks & Recreation will now need to fund operations in the next fiscal year for roughly six weeks for which they previously had not budgeted ($22,500).

• Tennis Courts: The Town’s tennis courts require resurfacing every five years in order to prevent irreparable damage, forcing reconstruction, which has happened in the past.  The schedule has been staggered so that each year the neediest courts are the next to be resurfaced.

• Pay raises:  The Town wide market adjustments to pay in the current year were budgeted for nine months, and that pay increase needs to be adjusted for the additional three months in the next year.

• Hepatitis B vaccinations:  This is an OSHA requirement that had not previously been fulfilled by all Town departments, but which we are now compelled to fulfill by offering this series of shots, or any subset thereof, to any at-risk personnel.