Enterprise council OKs $53.8 million budget

A $53.8 million budget for the 2016 fiscal year was unanimously approved at the Enterprise City Council meeting Sept. 15.

The total revenue and expenditures are expected to decrease by nearly $18 million from the 2015 budget, primarily because of the previous $16.6 million in bond proceeds, earmarked to fund the Enterprise City Schools’ capital projects.

“We’re looking at a total change in revenue of about a 34 percent decrease,” explained City Clerk Steve Hicks at an earlier budget work session. “It’s primarily related to the fact that we don’t have the bond sources coming in this year.”

The 2016 City of Enterprise budget is available online at the city website www.enterpriseal.gov, under the “city clerk/treasurer” tab, which is located under the “departments” tab on the site’s home page.

The budget includes a $187,716 increase for health insurance premiums for city employees and retirees and at the work session, councilmen asked for a clarification on what amounts to a 7.8 percent increase.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell explained that despite the premium increase, employees with individual coverage would not have to pay more. A share of some of the increase will be passed on to those employees with family coverage.”

“The city will absorb 100 percent of the increase for the individual coverage for employees and retirees,” Boswell said. “Fifty percent of that 7.8 percent increase for family coverage will be passed on to the employees and retirees who participate in family coverage.

Boswell said the increase in what an employee pays for family coverage would be $13.16 per bi-weekly pay period. “The entire portion of the increase will be $32 to $59.50 per month, depending on the type coverage the retiree has chosen.”

The city has not passed on health insurance costs to employees since October 2003, Boswell added.

On an unrelated budget matter, Boswell said that the $29,512 projected operating cost of the new Farmers Market building, should be largely offset by the revenue produced by the building in rentals and other fees. “We have projected revenues of $25,000 to give you a net projected operating expense of $4,512,” Boswell said.

The next regular meeting of the Enterprise City Council is Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m.