Carson City Board of Supervisors move forward on FY17 budget

The Carson City Board of Supervisors came one step closer to approving the city’s 2017 fiscal year budget Thursday.

The board received a final presentation on supplemental requests from city departments and the city’s capital improvement program (CIP).

The supervisors approved $1,021,998 for various projects through the Capital Projects Fund. They also approved CIP budgets from other funds, including the Carson City Transit, Quality of Life, and Infrastructure Tax funds.

The board voted unanimously to approve the budgets with one change to the capital improvement program.

Public Works initially requested $150,000 for a truck barn and $50,000 to go toward a new fuel facility, which the board decided was better spent on upgrading the roads.

The fuel facility would have been used daily to fuel all city vehicles and to guarantee first responders didn’t have to compete for gas elsewhere during an emergency, said Darren Schulz, Public Works director.

He said the concept of a fuel facility has been on the back burner for a while and is common among agencies of a similar size to Carson City.

“We’ve never had one here. Does it need to happen this year? No. But I don’t think we should continue to delay it,” Schulz said. “But I understand why people want to spend it on streets.”

Zach Good, fleet service supervisor, estimated a city fueling station could save the city 8-10 cents a gallon in fuel costs or $800-$1,000 a month.

An additional $230,000 from the sewer, water, transit and fleet funds also had been earmarked for the fuel facility, but those funds couldn’t be diverted to streets maintenance so they were changed to undesignated funds to be later specified.

The board also agreed to bring to the board an item to change the fiscal policy to have an 8.3 percent beginning balance in 2018.

Other major CIP projects include $1.1 million for reconstruction of Appion Way and Goni Road from the Regional Transportation Fund; $239,315 for a new roof for the Carson Aquatic Facility, out of the Quality of Life Fund; and $1.6 million for the east-west transmission main from the Water Fund.

The Capital Projects Fund comprises $391,998 from 5 cents of the property tax and $630,000 from the general fund.

Of that combined $1.02 million, $118,557 goes to the break/fix account while $903,441 will cover a priority list of projects or purchases.

The bulk of it will go to buying fleet, including a new ambulance and fire vehicle, as well as tasers, vests and an interview recording system for the Sheriff’s Office.

The board also unanimously approved $239,462 in supplemental requests. They included $82,553 to hire an Alternative Sentencing officer, $17,500 for software maintenance and $20,390 for books and periodicals for the library.

The supervisors will vote to approve the 2017 budget at its meeting on May 19.