Road Construction, Staffing Issues Highlighted in Apple Valley's 2012 Budget

The final 2012 budget and tax levy the Apple Valley City Council passed last week, 4-1, remains relatively unchanged from the preliminary budget the council looked at in September.

One notable item in the $54 million budget is the $9.3 million for road construction in 2012; the council also discussed this fall to fund the repair of aging roads.

The 2012 general fund makes up $24.52 million of the total budget, compared to the amended $24.13 million general fund of the 2011 budget, according to a presentation given to the council on Thursday.

About 74 percent of the general fund revenue in 2012 is slated to come from taxes, compared to 75 percent of the larger general fund in 2011. Salaries and benefits should make up about $16.6 million of the general fund expenses, up from $16.25 million in 2011.

Council member Ruth Grendahl at Thursday's meeting was the first to mention taking a closer look at the Apple Valley Sports Arena fund—the city enterprise fund that consistently nets a loss—to find a way to make it more profitable or to break even.

Even with debt service and capital outlay, the fund is expected to lose more than $54,000 in 2012, the budget shows, while others show a positive net income.

Other highlights from the 2012 budget include:

2012 Road Projects

The $9.3 million slated for road work in 2012 will cover construction of new roads, street reconstruction and resurfacing and overlays. Major projects planned include construction of

• Construction of new road extending 147th Street West from Flagstaff Avenue to Johnny Cake Ridge Road
• Extending Flagstaff Avenue from south of 140th Street West to 147th Street West
• Reconstructing the streets in the Greenleaf neighborhood, north of 140th Street West and east of Galaxie Avenue
• Reconstruction of Whitney Drive from Garden View Drive to Pennock Avenue

Staffing

The city will bring a construction supervisor, a project inspector and a summer intern in-house to save money. In 2010, the city brought a city engineer and assistant engineer in-house to save money otherwise spent on more expensive services from consulting firms.

Nine other city positions remain vacant, including four positions in the police department, and one each in the fire department, building inspections, parks maintenance, code enforcement and public works.

Other Items

• About $1 million from the city's park dedication fund and a $2 million loan from the future capital projects fund for the city's .

• The budget proposes to transfer $525,000 from the municipal liquor fund  to support parks and recreation, as well as to buy five new police squad cars, in 2012. The same amount was transferred to the 2011 budget.

• The budget also includes $195,000 to complete plans to expand the city's water treatment plant. Preparation for the expansion began in 2010, and once expanded the facility should have the capacity to serve the city through 2030, according to the budget.

• The budget predicts a doubling of city property tax deliquincies in 2012—$400,000, compared with $200,000 in 2011 and $122,000 in 2010.

As part of its approvals on Thursday, the council also adopted a tax levy of $22,025,249, which is down about $675,000, or 2.97 percent, from last year.

Read Apple Valley Patch's story from Thursday to learn more about .

BY THE NUMBERS

Total Revenues: $52.08 million

Total Expenditures: $54.01 million

General Fund Revenues: $24.52 million

General Fund Expenditures: $24.52 million

Total Tax Levy: $22.03 million (last year: $22.7 million)

Portion of Levy for Debt Purposes: $2.05 million

Median-Value Home Price: $197,800 (last year: $203,200)

Decline in Value of Median-Value Home: 3 percent (last year, more than 94 percent of homes decreased in value by 6 percent or more)

Property Tax Increase for Median-Value Home: $7 (last year: $0)