Culminating Project Part III - only have to do question #4 because it is team project

INTERDEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM October 5 , 2010 TO: Budget and Finance Team s FROM: Jack Sprague, Town Manager RE: Town Financial Crisis Update The Water and Sewage Department and the Economic Security Department, who handle jobless benefits, are in desper ate need of examination and adjustment. We have spent some considerable time with both of these departments, and would really like your analysis to help make some difficult decisions. The Water and Sewage Department is somewhat unique in that it is suppo rted entirely by user fees. We have provided you with some analysis and projections of user fee revenue for both drinking water production and water reclamation and treatment. We’ve also provided some projected expenditures for the next 3 years, inc luding a significant capital outlay project the town council has approved – the construction of the Hadleyville Water Treatment Plant and Reservoir. This project is politically very sensitive, and I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think taking it off the table is an option. However, what you may explore is a different timeline or different priorities in budgeting that can help make the project more successful given the budget constraints. We know that user fees will need increasing , but as you can ima gine that isn’t the most popular route we can take. We’d like to hear your recommendations for reigning in operating costs as much as possible. The Economic Security Department handles quite a few federal programs for the town in addition to locally -fun ded programs. We have some initial projects for f ederal resources that we see increasing over time and perh aps some opportunities for new f ederal revenue in the very near future. Specifically , we’d like you to see if op erating costs can be brought in lin e with revenues while maintaining a high level of service and providing as much service as possible through these additional federal r esources. Be as specific as possible in your recommendations. Your Budget Briefing Book will have more detail on the cur rent state of both of these d epartment’s operating budgets and the key decision points that the council will need from your recommendations. As you develop the specific recommendations for these two departments, my hope is that it will help inform your l arger decisions surrounding the town ’s overall budget. HADLEYVILLE HADLEYVILLE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE 1245 LINCOLN BOULEVARD HADLEYVILLE, AZ 85001