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Delray Beach commissioners to confront budget hole

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — For the past two-plus months, Delray Beach city commissioners have been reviewing the city spending department-by-department.

Now, it’s time for the hard part: figuring out a way to close a $2.4 million gap between projected revenue and the budget proposed by City Manager David Harden. Like every budget since 2007, some tough choices will have to be made.

The options are obvious; none are painless: Raise taxes, cut spending, dip into reserves or a combination of the three. Commissioners must at least set a direction by August 3, the deadline by which the city must submit its proposed tax rate for the budget, which takes effect Oct. 1.

“I will tell you now, I don’t think we should be raising the (tax rate),” Commissioner Tom Carney said during Tuesday evening’s commission meeting.

One other possibility would be enacting a fire service fee, but that seems unlikely given the lessen-than-warm reception it received when it was proposed earlier this year.

Harden is proposing a $97.1 million budget, which would represent the first budget increase in years. With the present rates in effect, taxes, fees etc. would generate about $93 million in revenue, leaving a $4 million hole. The city will have a $1.6 million surplus from the current budget, courtesy of a construction boom, that Harden said can be carried over into the upcoming budget, leaving a deficit of $2.4 million.

Commissioners will hold a workshop meeting to review their options at 3 p.m. on July 31 and take up the matter again on August 3 during the regular meet meeting.

Other key dates in the process: Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget at 7 p.m. on Sept. 4; a second public hearing and a final vote will held on Sept. 20.