Blackfoot discusses options to fix city budget

The city of Blackfoot is looking for ways to fix its budget problem. The city has frozen its general fund after a recent audit found the fund has seen a decrease over the last several years.

Several options were presented at the city council meeting tonight to fix the general fund. Some were short-term fixes while others were long-term fixes.

In the 2017 Fiscal Year, the general fund balance was $1,028,634. That year, $619,889 of that covered the Parks and Recreation deficit leaving a balance of $408,745 for the 2018 Fiscal Year. The current Ambulance deficit is $416,526 while the Fire and Ambulance Replacement Fund deficit is $65,575. This puts the general fund out of balance by $73,356.

For a short-term fix, they proposed to tap into the Capital Improvement Fund, which has a little over $200,000. In the long-term, they say they need to establish a “Rainy Day” fund and evaluate service contracts. The also plan to look at L-2 property tax allocations, overhaul the indirect cost structure and eliminate lease purchases. They said the ambulance service and Parks and Rec may have to make some cuts.

Mayor Marc Carroll says it is not as bad as they originally thought; however, he expects the budget freeze to stay in place until the end of the 2018 Fiscal Year, which is September 30th. They say that while it might take a while, the budget is fixable.