Council praises budget report

 Angels Camp City Council members liked what they saw Tuesday night in a midyear budget update, beginning with figures that showed lodging, property and sales taxes all exceeded anticipated performance as spending has remained below projections.

The style of the presentation also drew glowing praise from council members who said they felt frustrated by unclear budget reports lacking detail in recent years.

Vice Mayor Jack Lynch, the dean of council members entering his sixth year on the panel, called the line-item breakdown the best he has seen during his tenure.    

City Administrator Michael McHatten, still in his first year with the municipality, said lending transparency to fiscal matters is an important task he has worked on side-by-side with Finance Director Melisa Ralston.    

While kudos were abundant, Councilman Scott Behiel did have some constructive criticism to offer. Behiel asked why spending on engineering services stood out as one of few items exceeding budgeted amounts, with 79 percent of the entire year’s projection spent in the first half of fiscal year 2011-12.    

McHatten replied that unexpected costs were accrued for inspections of the new Cal Fire station being constructed in Altaville and that reimbursements for those costs are merely lagging behind the expenses themselves.  

Behiel asked that such off-budget revenue and expense be incorporated into future presentations. McHatten said that can easily be accomplished as the reports continue to be fine-tuned.    

The midyear budget shows $87,704 in revenues above the anticipated first-half amount, meaning the city may well reduce an anticipated $184,521 deficit projected when adopting the budget in August 2011 to five figures.    

McHatten cautioned that the city is “not yet in recovery” but that the council was prudent in budgeting more-conservative figures, especially for sales tax, in its revenue projections this year versus prior years.    

In May, the third-quarter figures will be presented and those totals will provide the council a solid base for preparing the 2012-13 budget.    

The most promising aspect of the remaining half of the current budget is that “we still have another positive quarter ahead of us and that’s the fourth quarter” for lodging tax revenue, McHatten said.    

The first and fourth quarters of the fiscal year are the strongest for tourist stays in the city, he said.