I've been studying Troutdale's proposed 2008-09 budget in advance of next week's budget committee meetings. It's not exactly good news. As I predicted back in January, "My guess is that new home starts in Troutdale will drop sharply in 2008. These changes in the housing market will reduce our building permit and inspection fees- a big part of our general fund budget."
Troutdale city staff reduced the 5 year general fund reserve projection from $3.5 million down to $1.4 million. Since December 4, 2007 when the last 5 year projection was calculated, several budget impacts have hit the general fund projection spreadsheet:
Cumulative loss of Fairview and Wood Village building permit contracts fiscal year 2009-2012= $1.3 million
The estimated cumulative decrease in Troutdale building activity projections FY 2008-09= $185k.
Impact of a 3.9% COLA versus a 3% COLA as originally projected fir FY 2009= $150k
Additional capital outlay requests FY 2009= $152k
Cumulative 25% impact of second school resource officer (SRO) position (FY 2009-2012) = $86k
And on the savings side,
Cumulative Building Department Savings due to reduction of work hours(FY 2009-2012)= ($430k)
Other Misc. increases/decreased = ($79k)
If you're interested in where your Troutdale tax dollars are going, I encourage you to attend next week's Troutdale budget committee meetings. They will be held Monday, April 14 through Wednesday April 16 at Troutdale's City Conference Building, 223 S. Buxton.
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