In anticipation of presenting a completed budget for the fiscal year to the public, Cottonwood City Council members are working two marathon days later this month.
On Monday, May 9, and Tuesday, May 10, the council will put in long hours of discussion and debate — their main tool a 300-page document outlining the city’s current budgetary concerns and proposals.
City of Cottonwood Administrative Services General Manager Rudy Rodriguez admitted that the document is a bit of a tough pill to swallow.
“It’s been probably one of our toughest years,” Rodriguez said April 28. He added that, like many communities, the economy has had a major impact on the bottom line.
Unlike many communities, however, Cottonwood collects no property tax, leaving revenue for all municipal projects up to sales tax and other smaller gains.
As a result, Rodriguez said the city will likely be raising the sales tax rate from 3 percent to nearly 4 percent. Added to the current percentages from the state and county, this means an overall sales tax of over 10 percent.
The current sales tax is 9.35 percent.
According to Rodriguez, the increase will be “just about enough to cover expenditures.”
The good news, Rodriguez added, is that the finance department is going to council with a balanced budget.
In addition, he said that due to the refinancing of purchased water companies that occurred last fiscal year the overall budget will be “quite a bit less than last year.”
Despite a big drop in expenditures and few resources to spare, Rodriguez said there will be no drop in services: “Pretty much everything is funded, and we don’t have any new programs to fund.”
The subject of debt — a number that members of the public have quoted as high as $90 million — is unavoidable, the administrator said. At the same time, he said that the numbers have been inflated and sometimes misrepresented.
“It’s closer to $58 million,” Rodriguez said, and broke down the approximate debt as follows:
- $34 million in utilities assets, including water companies purchased during the last decade.
- $14 in the Cottonwood Recreation Center Facility and nearby city buildings.
- $8 million in excised tax.
- $1 million in leased properties.
Rodriguez said that a measure of the misrepresentation of debt figures is due to a misunderstanding of the nature of the projects Cottonwood has undertaken. The water companies, street renovations and recreation center are tangible asset investments — many of which are necessary for future generations, he said.
“We’re taking care of business now instead of 30 or 40 years.”
The budgetary process, Rodriguez noted, is taking slightly longer than those of nearby communities.
“Because we have more departments than any other local community, ours takes a bit longer,” he said.
