Airway Heights sets final 2021 budget

AIRWAY HEIGHTS—Council approved the final 2021 budget in its last meeting of the year, a Dec. 21 legislative session. The final budget includes several amendments from the original proposed 2021 budget, in both revenues and expenditures.

The current expense fund had many of the budget amendments. Original proposed revenues were $11,339,381.87, while original fund expenditures were $10,954,801.65. Because proposed revenues dropped to $10,774,409.28, a 5% decrease, fund expenditures were dropped to $10,774,409.28, a 1.6% drop, which left no excess or deficit in the current expense fund.

Proposed beginning balance revenues dropped 23.1%, from $525,604 to $400,000. Tax revenue would increase by $88,806.72, and licenses and permits revenue increased by $5,000 in the amended budget.

Judicial revenue dropped by $30,830, from $94,510 to $63,680. Finance department revenue also dropped from $46,932 to $42,204 in the amended budget. Law enforcement revenue ballooned from $18,885 to $267,625, while planning department revenue grew from $19,000 to $23,000. The community service department revenue dropped from $1,905,750 to $631,953.

Interfund transfer revenue dropped 3.3%, with city park interfund transfer revenue accounting for most of that drop. Tax interfund transfer revenue rose 5.2%, as did EMS levy revenue under the amended budget.

Council approved a 7.3% expenditure reduction from the previous proposed budget to city parks, and a 71.4% increase from the original budget to non expenditures. Fire control and EMS levy expenditures both rose 8.1%.

Legislative expenditures dropped 2.3% from the originally proposed budget to the final approved budget. Judicial expenditures rose 8.7%, while executive expenditures slightly rose by 0.3%. Finance expenditures rose 16,2%, while legal service expenditures ballooned from $73,000 to $100,000, a 37% increase.

Economic/other government expense expenditures rose 13.1%, while law enforcement expenditures rose 3.2% from the original budget proposal. Planning department revenues dramatically rose from $139,150 to $312,027.08, a 124.2% rise.

Meanwhile, community services department expenditures were nearly cut in half from the original proposed budget. The $1,264,221.38 total from the originally proposed $2,406,648 was a 47.5% decrease.

Interfund transfer expenditures also dropped from $153,271 to $89,200, a 41.8% drop. Building department expenditures from 17.4% from the originally proposed budget to the final, approved budget.

Drew Lawson can be reached at [email protected].