The budget presented to the Board is balanced, meaning there are sufficient resources between expected revenues and available unreserved fund balances in each of the funds. The City maintains several funds that are financially independent operations. The traditional governmental activities are found in the General Fund and include the Fire, Police, Street and General Government. Each of the four utilities, Water, Sewer (or Wastewater), Electric and Sanitation (Solid Waste). The city manages the special revenue funds for the Park Department, the Library, the Cemetery, the Transportation Sales Tax Fund, and the Public Safety Sales Tax Fund.
Sales tax and other revenues have remained steady despite predictions of sales tax losses due to inflation. The budget for FY2023-24 reflects the loss of one full-time position at City Hall. City services have been streamlined and staff are able to handle the daily workload. By maintaining staffing levels, the city can work with available resources to best benefit the citizens of Centralia.
During the past year we were able to accomplish several important projects:
- Sidewalks added to South Park on Booth St.
- The new North Pointe Subdivision utilities were installed.
- Continued work on the Water Treatment Plant and Wastewater Project upgrades
- Asphalt overlay of 1.31 miles of City streets
- Completed west side of Jefferson St. culvert project.
As mentioned above the city budget is a planning tool. Estimates are made on revenues and priorities are documented as planned expenses. By maintaining adequate reserves and being flexible and responsive to actual events and needs that arise during the year, the city can serve the citizens of Centralia as a full-service city, despite our smaller size, in a fiscally prudent manner. One of the most important parts of budgeting is keeping the city fleet and infrastructure up to date with a capital improvement plan. Some important projects are listed below.
The following is a list of projects the City intends to undertake in FY2023 - 2024:
- Completing upgrades to the Water Treatment Plant & Wastewater Treatment Facility
- Replacement of Water Meters – Year 2 of 2 - $138,000
- Sewer main and manhole lining - $400,000
- Purchase of a new dump truck with a snowplow and spreader attachment - $160,000
- Replacement of the Vacc trailer with a Vacc Truck - $160,000
- Overlay of 2.075 miles of streets - $323,641
The budget also allows for the fourth of four pay increases, resulting from wage adjustments based on the wage study conducted in FY19 for all hourly workers. The final wage adjustments will occur this year.
During the upcoming fiscal year, we need to continue to look at ways to maintain an adequate unreserved fund balance in the General Fund. Increases in operational costs may put a strain on this fund, and we should attempt to retain a balance of 25% of the General Fund expenses.