mowgli demeter: Arlington considering uses for surplus [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas]

By Susan Schrock, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Jan. 09--ARLINGTON -- In the next few weeks, an Arlington City Council committee will consider proposals to spend a $2.7 million general fund surplus on equipment such as a Police Department communications system or to continue a ride-to-work program for low-income residents.

Despite the largest decline in property tax values in 25 years, other revenue generators like sales taxes, natural gas well permits, Class C misdemeanor tickets and city-collected fees helped Arlington take in $5.3 million more than officials had anticipated for fiscal 2011.

During that budget year, from Oct. 1, 2010, to Sept. 30, Arlington hosted Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium and Texas RangersWorld Series games.

Also, stronger-than-expected sales tax collections and building-related permit fees indicated that the economy was improving, Budget Manager Mike Finley said.

"The major sporting events, a modicum of strengthening in the economy and conservative budgeting practices produced a good year for us, financially," Finley said.

Over $8 million ahead

Arlington ended the last budget year with a general fund surplus of more than $8 million because city departments spent $3 million less than originally budgeted, largely because of vacant positions, Finley said. However, a significant portion has been earmarked for employee health insurance and workers' compensation funds, the legal fund and a rainy-day fund.

The council can spend the surplus on one-time expenses, such as firetrucks, employee bonuses or equipment. The surplus money would not typically be allocated until next fiscal year, but the council could decide to fund department needs more quickly.

Councilman Robert Shepard said his fiscal policy committee will meet with city staff over the coming weeks to evaluate and prioritize department requests.

Early suggestions have included a $1.5 million communication system upgrade for the Police Department and $30,000 to help fund the Ride2Work program, which provides transportation for low-income residents, through the summer.

"We haven't identified any needs," Shepard said. "We'll be meeting again to get input from staff on what some of those needs might be. If there were items cut from the 2012 budget that were viewed as high-priority items otherwise, some consideration might be given to paying for those items this budget year instead of holding the money until next year."

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'Not that much'

Arlington had anticipated ending the past fiscal year $286,604 in the black, but the multimillion-dollar surplus is not unusual, city leaders said. The city, which has a general fund budget of about $200 million, ended each of the previous two fiscal years with a $3 million surplus.

"What's important for the average citizen to take away is, while it is good to have a surplus, it's not that much money when you have a $200 million budget. It's not like we are going to fix all the street problems with the surplus," Shepard said. "In the scheme of things, this is a small amount of money. We do want to be good fiscal stewards of the money and make sure it goes where it needs to go."

Separate from the general fund, the Arlington Water Utilities Department brought in $7.6 million more in revenue and spent $4.1 million less than budgeted in fiscal 2011. Much of the surplus was already programmed into the department's fiscal 2012 budget to avoid a water rate increase for customers, Finley said.

Also separate, Convention and Event Services generated $1.2 million in additional revenue, partly because of a significant increase in parking fee collections at the Convention Center. The Super Bowl and the Rangers' postseason, as well as other tourism, also meant higher-than-expected hotel occupancy tax collections, Finley said. That money will go back into the Convention Center and tourism-related operations.

"We expected an increase with the Super Bowl, but it was even higher than that. People were just traveling again apparently," Finley said.

Susan Schrock, 817-709-7578

Twitter: @susanschrock

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