Atherton is directing more of the town’s resources toward road and drainage repairs, and for the first time, will have a separate category dedicated to emergency preparedness projects in its annual budget.
At a special meeting held June 14, the Atherton City Council unanimously approved a $9.2 million operating budget and $3.9 million capital improvement program budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
The 2006-07 budget calls for using only $450,000 of parcel tax revenues for operating expenses, $349,000 less than in the current year’s budget, said Finance Director John Johns. The remainder of the nearly $2 million in annual parcel tax revenues will go toward capital improvement projects such as road repair, storm drain system improvements and other infrastructure work.
The $3.9 million budget for capital improvements includes a $1.65 million project to repair Atherton’s side of Valparaiso Avenue.
Emergency repairs to shore up the Atherton channel along Marsh Road before the winter rains come are anticipated in the budget, but a specific dollar amount hasn’t been determined yet.
Public Works Director Duncan Jones said that major repair work to the channel’s retaining wall is badly needed, but that the work won’t get under way until next year.
Vibration caused by the traffic along Marsh Road is causing the concrete-lined channel to fail more rapidly than expected, Mr. Jones said. Besides repairing the retaining wall, a vehicle barrier wall is also recommended because “the police have to keep fishing people out of the creek,” he said.
Town officials expect to see slight decreases in revenues in the coming fiscal year, as compared with the current year, including about $100,000 less in building permit fees than anticipated and almost $10,000 less in tax on real estate sales.
Atherton is losing more than $150,000 in law enforcement grant money and is facing a 10 percent increase in the cost of employee health insurance premiums.
All in all, the budget will draw down the town’s general fund balance by $300,000, Mr. Johns said. He said town staff was not concerned because Atherton’s reserves are well above minimum levels. Mr. Johns said that Atherton had an exceptional year for revenues in 2005-06, and he cautioned the council that he’s making very conservative revenue projections for the coming budget year.
Council members directed staff to create a separate budget category for emergency preparedness and allocated $120,000 to it, although no specific uses for that money have been approved yet. Other emergency preparedness items in the budget are an emergency trailer that holds supplies and can serve as a communications and command center, and construction of a well in the Holbrook-Palmer Park to supply residents with an emergency water supply, said City Manager Jim Robinson.
