After several adjustments in a Thursday work session held by the Brookhaven Board of Alderman, the city’s budget for the next fiscal year is sitting at a projected surplus of $20,900.

This is up significantly from the $829,000 deficit announced in the previous work session.

A large portion of the deficit came about due to a miscalculation in employee salaries, City Clerk Mike Jinks said at the previous work session.

Employees paid weekly were set to receive a 3-percent raise, while employees paid bi-weekly were set to receive a raise of 2 percent, Jinks said. In addition, 25 percent of the 2- and 3-percent raises were to be added to the account for Social Security, but Jinks said that the addition was incorrectly applied to the entire salary, increasing the deficit.

Several other changes, including a 50 cent increase in water, sewer and garbage fees, along with dropping a request by Fire Chief Tony Weeks for three additional certified firefighters from the budget, helped decrease the deficit.

The surplus would have been $120,900, but the board agreed to move the operating costs of the city’s fire hydrants from the water and sewer budget to the general fund to help alleviate water and sewer deficits.

“We have so much more flexibility in the general fund than in the fee-based water and sewer (fund),” Ward 6 Alderman David Phillips said.

Projected revenues for the city are $12.76 million in the general fund, $3.375 million in water/sewer and $1.272 million in solid waste.

The board agreed in the Tuesday work session to increase the monthly fees for water/sewer and solid waste by 50 cents each. But by law, those services must be funded entirely through those fees, and even after the board’s adjustments water/sewer sits at a $184,300 deficit and solid waste sits at a $182,400 deficit.

Despite those deficits, Phillips said in the meeting that the budget was balanced because the board usually underestimates city revenues and overestimates expenses — a portion of which is set aside for contingencies and overtime pay.

“We historically spend half a million to a million less than we budget,” he said. “I’m feeling very comfortable with the budget.”

 

Ballpark debate

One area of contention in the meeting was funding for the Dr. A.L. Lott Sportsplex on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive for the next fiscal year.

While Philips said Parks and Recreation spends about $30,000 maintaining the facility, Ward 2 Alderman Terry Bates said no money is spent on equipment or other expenses for the league.

Instead, funding for the league relies on entry fees, sponsorship money and concessions.

Teams include players as young as 4 years old and as old as 16. The league includes 25 teams, with more than 200 children from Brookhaven participating as well as 120 children from outside the city limits who are invited to participate because their communities don’t have leagues of their own.

Bates said the league was originally run by the city, and he would like the city to run the league again.

Another work session is planned for 4 p.m. Tuesday to discuss funding for the recreation department.

The recreation department has its own board with its own budget, but a significant portion of its funding comes from appropriations from the city. Bates said that other departments had to explain how they would be using city money, and he would like the recreation department to do the same.

Following Tuesday’s work session, a public hearing will be held to discuss the budget at 5:30 p.m.