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Columbus on track to rebuild rainy day fund
By: Garth Bishop - www.columbuslocalnews.com
Lower-than-projected expenditures and higher-than-projected revenues in 2009 have given Columbus a good start on rebuilding its "rainy day" fund, city officials said.

A big priority for the city in building its 2010 budget is the start of efforts to rebuild the rainy day fund. The goal is to build the fund up to $50 million by the end of 2014, and the city already is in position to reach that goal by hitting $15 million this year, said Columbus City Councilman Andrew Ginther.

City Finance Director Paul Rakosky gave an update on revenues and expenditures at the city's Jan. 21 budget hearing.

Expenditures for 2009 were projected at $617.5 million, but came in at about $617 million for a savings of about $500,000, Rakosky said. The $617.5 million figure did not include the costs of back-pay expenses for the police division -- which were unknown at the time of projection, but turned out to be between $2.8 million and $2.9 million -- so even with that additional expense, the city still came in under budget, said Rakosky.

Savings include more than $400,000 from elected officials' offices, $170,000 in the Department of Development and $100,000 in the Department of Finance.

Revenues came in at about $588 million, up from the project $579.6 million. The increase primarily was a result of the income tax hike that passed in August.

That increase in revenue and decrease in expenditures allowed the city to carry forward more than expected into 2010, helping it build up the rainy day fund all the more quickly, Rakosky said.

"We were left with about $3.3 million in general fund carryover going into 2010," he said.

The Jan. 21 meeting -- held to gather public comment on council's proposed 2010 budget amendments -- was filled primarily with praise for council from members and proponents of groups to which the city plans to add or restore funding this year.

Organization representatives and community leaders came forward at the meeting to laud council for its plans to add funding to Franklin Park Conservatory, the Community Shelter Board, TechColumbus, Community Crime Patrol, human services, the Office of Minority Health, neighborhood health centers, Amethyst, the Franklin County Municipal Court, Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, the Small Business Development Center at Columbus State Community College, the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Columbus Cultural Leadership Consortium.

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