Calaveras Enterprise

Angels Camp sees unexpected improvement in city finances




Additional monies have become available in the current budget for Angels Camp, where city officials passed a barebones fiscal plan last year while they searched for additional revenue sources.

A total of about $220,000 has been either gained or saved, which will go directly into the city’s General Fund, said Angels Camp Finance Officer Julie McManus earlier this month. The additional money came from a combination of savings due to reorganization efforts in the city’s administrative office and revenues from the use of the city’s fire strike team during the 2016-17 fiscal year.

The money provides significant relief for the city at a time of need. In the past two years alone, officials have dipped nearly $300,000 into the city’s savings to balance deficits in the General Fund. Before the final budget was approved in August, McManus said they had about $700,000 remaining in reserves. With the recent changes, McManus said the balance for reserves is at $970,000.

After former city Administrator Michael McHatten stepped away to take a job in January of 2016, Mary Kelly inherited the position. That allowed the city to reclassify the wage scale for the director of administrative services job, Kelly’s previous position. The restructure, along with the elimination of an accounting spot, is projected to save the city $70,000 per year moving forward, according to McManus.

The additional revenues were in the form of reimbursements from both the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and various federal agencies  after the city deployed its strike team throughout the fire season in 2016, McManus said.

“That, combined with the fact we were at the tail end of the drought,” she said. “There was tremendous fire activity.”

Approaching the city’s third year of eligibility for reimbursement for use of its fire strike team, McManus said projected future returns are uncertain at this point. Repayments generally occur well after the fire activity occurred.

First quarter budget snapshot

McManus also presented a summary of how well various departments were doing in terms of meeting budget targets at the end of the first quarter of the 2017-18 fiscal year.

The Angels Camp Fire Department has spent 23 percent of its $541,000 annual budget.

The finance and administration department has spent 23 percent of its nearly $372,000 budget.

Angels Camp Public Works has spent only 20 percent of its $149,000 budget.

The city’s building and planning agency has spent 25 percent of it $182,000 budget.

The Angels Camp Police Department has spent 27 percent of its $1.6 million budget through the first quarter. McManus said that the increased level of spending was due to an accrued leave payout for a departing employee.

The fire strike team spent 37 percent of its 208,000 budget.

Requests for spending outside the 2017-18 budget have also been made. To modify and improve city sewer and effluent lines, an additional $135,000 was approved by the City Council.

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