Fiscal Year 19-20 budget: What’s included for this year?

So, the City of Lakeland adopted a new budget this spring for the current Fiscal Year (FY19-20) with some additions to capital projects including network updates and leaf collections for residents.

Kyle Wright, finance and human resources director,

explained the additions in the new budget which was passed on second reading May 28^th by the BOC (Board of Commissioners) and took effect July 1^st.   It is based on a property tax of $1.89 per $100 of assessed value on all real and personal property.

Will new tax rate stand?

Depending on the source of funding for a first high school in Lakeland, the higher tax rate could be returned to the original $1.25 in the coming months.  Two funding mechanisms were parallel-approved by the BOC May 28^th.  A 40-year USDA loan would require little if any tax increase from the former $1.25 rate.  A  CON (Capital Outlay Note) for 12 years would necessitate an increase of 64-cents to make those loan payments.

Commissioners believed they had until Oct. 1^st to send a final tax rate to the Shelby County Trustee.  During the June 26^th meeting, commissioners learned the date to submit the tax rate was in fact July 15^th and not Oct. 1^st.  Without a firm commitment on the USDA loan until past July 15^th, (likely Aug. 2^nd) two commissioners and the Vice Mayor did not want to dissolve the CON financing possibility. So a resolution to return the tax rate to $1.25 was not approved at the July 11^th BOC meeting. That same resolution was presented at the June 26^th meeting but was tabled.

Regina Morrison Newman, Shelby County Trustee, told commissioners at the June 26th meeting making any changes to the tax rate after July 15th would require manual adjustments to 5,600 parcels.  And the cost could be $50,000 conservatively to the City.

City Manager Shane Horn

told BOC members during the July 11^th meeting he expects a commitment letter on the federal loan by Aug. 2^nd.  However, that was not soon enough to reverse the tax rate (to $1.25) and prevent the Shelby County Trustee from entering the $1.89 tax rate in digital records July 10^th. However, the City asked the Trustee not to print or mail tax notices to Lakeland residents until a decision is made about possibly lowering the tax rate.

When asked if a tax rate change from $1.89 to $1.25 would impact the new budget, the finance director said, “The budget will be revised at the discretion of the BOC. To date, there have been no decisions made by the BOC that would require revisions to the budget in the current fiscal year.

Projects for 2019-20

There are only a few differences in capital projects as compared to last year, according to Mr. Wright.

• The Beverle Rivera Road Project has been completed as of late FY 2019. “We would expect to start repaying the TLDA (Tennessee Local Development Authority) loan associated with this project during this fiscal year,” said Mr. Wright.
• The New Canada Road Project (NCR) is ongoing he said. According to Emily Harrell, city engineer, “In FY20 we will be finalizing the design of the Texas Gas pipeline upgrade, recertifying our NEPA environmental study, and obtaining TDOT certification on Right Of Way.  We will not need the $5M match until we go to construction which is most likely early 2021. The $500K is this year’s budget for New Canada Road.” NCR completion is set for 2023.
• Harrell added, “The $1.7M is for the Canada Road Bike Ped Project which will be bid soon.  We are waiting on FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) to obligate our construction funds.” This project is I-40/U.S. Highway 64 and will complete the “bridges to nowhere” on Canada Road and include ADA upgrades on ramps and crosswalks, and gateways at the interchange. Completion date: Likely fall 2020, said Mrs. Harrell.
• The Athletic Complex is ongoing.  “We are waiting on the contract from the State for the LPRF (Local Parks and Recreation Fund) Grant which basically says yes this is a doable project, and we are willing to fund it,” said Kevin Rooney, head of the Parks and Recreation Department.  “That is why we can’t do any design work until the contract is completed.” He said the contract is expected to be complete by mid-August.  The Park is to be on land owned by the City at Memphis Arlington and Canada Roads.
• The City plans to offer leaf collection services this fiscal year and will be purchasing equipment to facilitate those services. Mrs. Harrell said, “We hope to start the program mid-November.  I will have a better idea once the equipment order is processed.  Going forward the program will operate November – February with bi-weekly collection.  The service is being provided at no additional cost to residents.”
• The financing of the first high school in Lakeland through the USDA is ongoing. “We would expect to complete the financing process during this fiscal year,” said Mr. Wright.   The loan for $56 million, to pay for a $40 million high school and re-finance an estimated existing $16 million loan on the two-year-old middle school, is supposed to be confirmed to the City in early August. The school could open in August of 2022.
• Technological improvements at City Hall and the IH Clubhouse are ongoing. Logan Al-Chokhachi, technology support technician for the Lakeland School System and the City, said there are a lot of upgrades to the network infrastructure solutions for Lakeland City Hall, IH Clubhouse and the Senior Center. “City Hall is having commercial grade switches and access points installed, a new VOIP solution and updating the access controls for the building. IH and the Senior Center both are having proper networking equipment (switches, APs, cabling) installed as well as new security cameras (interior and exterior) and updating the access control systems.” He said stability should be markedly improved. “Speeds from the service provider will be the same, but a lot of the old internet equipment onsite is just very outdated and cannot perform at what we expect from a modern network. You may see some speed increases since the access points will be on modern Wi-Fi protocols, but that won’t be a huge jump. If I had to phrase it the best way I know, ultimately, this will significantly decrease downtime and as such help work towards a more efficient City Hall.”

Of the Livestream service the City uses to video public meetings, Mr. Al-Chokhachi said all of the broadcasting equipment is still going to be the same, so quality of videos will not be changing. Again, maybe in stability it will be better, but it will not look or sound any different, he said.  Mr. Horn said, “We will be exploring audio/visual updates in the Commission chambers which may include how meetings are televised and recorded.”

Mr. Wright said there are other, smaller differences in the budget, but, “I believe all major projects are included in the list above. City staff does not choose which projects are included in the budget; Decisions regarding projects and their priority are made by the Board of Commissioners.”

“At the end of FY 2019, fund balance amounts included $8.6 in the general fund; $10.5 million in the sewer fund; and $5.1 million in the general purpose school fund.