BY CHRIS FELKER
Wellington officials begin the public process of evaluating the village’s proposed Fiscal Year 2015 budget next week. The nearly $80 million budget would increase spending by 6.3 percent over the current year.
The Wellington Village Council and residents will get their first official look and chance to comment on the spending plan and proposed tax rate Tuesday, July 8, said Budget & Reporting Manager Christine Wadleigh. The council will adopt the final budget and tax rate in September.
Director of Operations Jim Barnes said that council members and residents should see the new budget as part of a commitment to keep village services level and also make important improvements, especially when it comes to maintaining the village’s drainage infrastructure.
Lessons from flooding experienced after heavy rains fell during Tropical Storm Isaac in August 2012 are reflected prominently in the budget, Barnes said, primarily in the spending plan for the Acme Improvement District.
Total spending would rise to just under $80 million from about $75 million in 2014. The anticipated $4.7 million jump includes approximately $1 million extra for road maintenance (needed because gas tax revenue is expected to fall short) and about $3 million for capital projects.
“The focus in the general government budget and in the Acme Improvement District budget is on maintaining our infrastructure and protecting our investments in the infrastructure and in the community,” Barnes said. “You’ll see more detail in the engineer’s report about why we’re trying to do certain projects, and a lot of it was the result of what we saw regarding deficiencies in the overall system after Isaac.”
Again this year, village staff will be looking for public input to determine what Wellington’s priorities should be as part of the annual “Budget Challenge.”
Wellington is expecting property tax revenue to jump nearly 9 percent because of increased real-estate values, which also should enable the village to trim the tax rate ever so slightly (by 0.4 percent). At the same time, the Acme Improvement District assessment will go up 50 percent — from $200 in 2014 to $300 next year.
All the other rates and fees included in the budget — solid waste removal and water/sewer service — would remain unchanged.
With the village expecting taxable property values to rise to almost $6.3 billion, simply keeping the property tax rate nearly identical to 2014 would raise $1.2 million more.
Revenues should increase by about $5 million, Wellington officials believe. That includes the increased property tax proceeds and about $1 million more from charges for services and miscellaneous revenues. The Acme increase will raise an additional $2.4 million.
Proposed spending increases in the budget include:
• $2.4 million for Acme’s drainage improvement program;
• $839,600 for new computers, substation surveillance cameras, propane gas vehicle conversions, landscape maintenance vehicles and equipment, and software upgrades;
• $474,510 for wage increases (2 percent cost-of-living and 1 percent merit);
• $359,479 for added positions at the Lake Wellington Professional Centre and the legal department;
• $430,136 for projected increases in medical insurance costs; and
• Unspecified increases for software upgrades and the law enforcement contract with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Significant budget reductions include:
• $1.5 million from utility bond debt service retirement;
• $1 million on capital projects;
• $417,230 from eliminating vacant positions;
• $327,500 for budgeted overtime and workers’ compensation; and
• Unspecified savings from outside legal services costs, changes in the lobbying contract and one-time training programs.
Wellington’s proposed 2015 budget will finance 297 positions, an increase of one from the amended 2014 budget, or five from the adopted 2014 budget.
The village’s budget proposal, including departmental budget information, is all available to the public online at www.wellingtonfl.gov. Click on “Departments” and “Financial Services OFMB” to find the information.
Officials will also reach out to village residents to gain input through community forums, as well as online and lobby surveys. Wellington is also breaking new ground this year by launching its OpenGov web page, the first government in the state to utilize the program. Access it by using the same navigation as above; a link is at the lower left. OpenGov provides comparisons on revenue and spending for all village departments dating back to 2010.
Village Manager Paul Schofield is enthusiastic about it.
“Our new budget web site gives residents a better way to see how their tax dollars are being collected and spent, making Wellington’s government more transparent and accountable,” he said.
