FY2018 Recommended Budget

affirmed its commitment to a conservative budget approach, using natural growth in revenues toward programming budget requests and execution of existing projects.

An overview of the CIP was also provided at the retreat. Updates on Town Center Core initiatives, and the Historic Christian Church, both related to the Town Council Top Ten CIP prioritized projects were shared with Council. Planning continues for the renovation of the Morrisville Aquatics and Fitness Center and the Public Works facility assessment. Appropriate concept and scope of all CIP items remains an essential to staff work and the budget process. While work continues on previously identified projects during Fiscal Year 2018, a comprehensive CIP refresh is scheduled as a part of the Fiscal Year 2019 budget cycle. Departmental requests and associated justification for all work items were submitted and reviewed as part of the Fiscal Year 2018 budget process. Departments were encouraged to concentrate on essential needs related to core business functions and responsibilities in lieu of expanded programming or new activities not aligned with current base budget expectations or contributing to long-range operations or planning. Personnel requests were further scrutinized to substantiate the need for additional staffing. This approach aligns with the desire to program available resources to the larger capital initiatives underway, primarily related to transportation projects and the Town Center Core. Base budgets continue to be recalibrated to the levels matching the established goals and objectives approved by Town Council. Department budgets were combined with recommended appropriations and allocations on behalf of the town for major and capital items. The Fiscal Year 2018 proposed operating budget maintains the commitment to maximize the use of available capacity resulting from the excess of revenues over routine expenditures. It also provides the funding necessary to replace and replenish assets that are essential to the work of the Town, maintain and adjust base budgets in a reasonable manner, enhance staff efficiency and workload management and oversight, and provide allocations to identified budget priorities. Capital projects of a significant cost and long-term benefit to the Town are appropriated through a combination of available operating capacity, fund balance, and strategic use of debt financing. Revenue forecasts continue to be approached in a conservative manner, but take into account Morrisville’s continued positive growth. The health of the local economy remains favorable, but municipal revenue options remain limited. We continue to closely monitor revenue sources that can be unpredictable, particularly those that are vulnerable to change at the state level and economic shifts. Modest and incremental user fee updates have been incorporated into the Fiscal Year 2018 proposed operating budget where warranted due to the cost or time required to provide those services. No adjustments to the stormwater fee are recommended for Fiscal Year 2018. The Fiscal Year 2018 proposed operating budget is not recommended in a vacuum, but instead is part of a larger, multi-year forecast that helps envision the need to support short-term funding requests with longer- range perspective of a sustainable annual operating budget. Town financial policies and related indicators and ratios combine to ensure efficient and effective use of resources while maintaining the highest standards of financial stability and credit risk as evidenced by our AAA credit rating. Our overall conservative budgeting approach must be complemented by careful and deliberate spending to conserve and expand the value of Town assets desired by the community. Reinvestment in the community, our internal resources and our human capital are essential to a growing and thriving town and to the citizen and customer demands we respond to every day. This budget is about building connections, and living well.

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