By the Numbers: Florissant 2012 Proposed Budget

Mayor Tom Schneider gave Florissant City Councilors another tall task budget on Monday in presenting the 2012 proposed budget.

We’re breaking down some of the bigger departments as well as some things of note in this budget. Keep in mind that the proposed budget must still be reviewed and approved by the city council before becoming official.

• The administrative department submitted a proposed budget of $2.7 million, an increase of 4 percent from the previous year. Within this department, more than $934,000 is the biggest stake in the budget for salaries, including $140,967 for the mayor as well as $171,158 for four accounting clerks. The department did decrease its professional services section of the budget from $259,900 in 2011 to $240,700 in 2012.
• The public works department requested a budget of $4.2 million, which is a decrease of 10 percent from its $4.6 million budget in 2011. The department made cuts in a number of places in its budget, but the biggest comes from its professional service department where it requested $50,000 for 2012. In 2011, the department received $176,500. In addition, the department cut its budget for ice/snow removal from $348,500 in 2011 to $251,250 for 2012. As in 2011, the department has requested $90,000 for overtime pay for its employees. In a public work session, Public Works Director Lou Jearls explained that he didn’t understand the slashing of his overtime budget in half and it was never explained to him. Florissant City Council informed Jearls that he would need to make some deeper cuts in the future for such a large overtime budget.
• The has requested $10.6 million for the 2012 budget, which is an increase of approximately $300,000 from 2011. The biggest increase comes for gasoline. In 2011, the department had a budget of $183,500, and for 2012 the department proposed $256,500, which is a 3 percent increase.
• Combined between all of the departments, more than $400,000 in overtime has been requested for next year. In 2011, the council approved $205,000 for overtime for the entire city. This would be a 50 percent increase from the previous budget year.
• The capital improvement fund has a proposed budget of $2.9 million. The budgeted amount for this year was $5.1 million. In 2010, the capital improvement fund had $2.8 million.
• The sewer lateral fund has a proposed amount of  $741,603 for 2012. In the past, the sewer lateral funds have been $542,008 and $517,488 for 2011 and 2010, respectively.

The Florissant City Council will host two budget public hearings to further review the budget on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in .