ROCK SPRINGS – Government agencies continue to battle tough budgets this year. On Tuesday night, the city of Rock Springs approved a balanced preliminary 2015/2016 budget.

The Budget Committee continues to find ways to overcome a steady sales tax decline but as of now has the $37 million budget balanced. There are still several things which could affect it before it is officially approved in June.

One is revenue projections. In her letter accompanying the preliminary budget, Lisa Tarufelli, Director of Administrative Services, said the city will continue to review revenue projects until budget approval in June.

Sales tax is one of the driving revenues in the city and it has fluctuated all year. Budget Committee Chairman David Tate explained the sales tax dilemma. He said they do not know why or what is causing it but for the past several years, sales tax has continued on a downward pace. Tate said the city’s sales tax payment in May was 8 percent less than it was at the same time last year. He said this decline has been pretty consistent over the past couple of years.

The budget was balanced without using the operational or cash reserves which total about $9.5 million. Tate explained the city can only use reserves on specific things. For example, he said they would go to reserves before laying off employees.

The budget presented does not include any additional positions in the city. It does include a provision for the negotiated salary increases for employees covered under the IAFF contract. Another bit of good news for residents is the budget as presented reflects both water and sewer rates remaining the same for the coming year.

One thing the city did a little different this year was with the departments in the city. In the past, the committee has asked department heads to have a projection ready. This year they asked the department heads to analyze these projections, which led to cost savings is several areas.

Tate said the departments heads were “amazing” this year and really bought into the changes knowing the pressure which surrounds the budget.

One thing that did stay the same was the “wish list.” Each year, the council brings forward several projects which they would like to see left in the budget. They then discuss each project and decide which ones stay and which ones go to the waiting list. Projects could be added back into the budget depending on revenue streams in the final months of the current fiscal year. These projects are usually quality of life projects focusing on the beautification on the city.

Several projects from the wish list remained in the budget. The first is to provide landscaping around the YWCA building. Tate said it has been on the council’s list of projects for several years but continued to get bumped. Another project that remained is the construction of a dog run at the Rock Springs Animal Control Building. One of the final projects kept in was continuing improvements around the Bunning Park area.

Several councilors had Wetlands Park improvements as a project but it was bumped. Park and Recreation Director Dave Lansang noted at a meeting several months ago it was never really meant to be a park and Tate agreed. It was originally built to help with the drainage issues in the area as well as to cleanup the swamp which used to be there.

Tate explained the plan was to keep it as natural as possible with natural grasses mainly because of the poor soil quality. Even though it has been bumped, the city will be planting 40 plus trees at the park for Arbor Day to help improve the area.

The final piece of the budget will take place on May 12 as outside agencies will make requests to the council. In her letter, Tarufelli stated the budget as presented also includes ongoing funding for the Rock Springs Library, the Community Fine Arts Center, recycling and the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce. Appropriations are included for the Sweetwater County Events Complex, RS-SWCO Airport, and STAR. Outside agency requests have been held at FY2015 levels.

Tate said after looking at the requests from the outside agencies, they were very pleased with most of them. Last year, the city cut outside agencies by 5 percent across the board. Tate said the vast majority of the requests came in at the same amount they were funded last year.

“It shows they are willing to help,” Tate said of the agencies. “They understand we are doing the best with what we have.”

Tate said he is doubtful there will be any new funding for outside agencies in the upcoming budget.

While the 2015/2016 budget has been tight, many government agencies are saying the 2016/2017 budget session will be even worse. The city of Rock Springs has always tried their best to prepare for the next year’s budget. Last year, they cut the entire budget by 5 percent in anticipation of poor budget revenue projections. Tate said they are hoping they have done enough that the budget will start to stabilize next year.

In closing, Tate said residents should understand the city is in maintenance mode with the budget.

“We are just not going to see a lot of new things. We want to maintain what we have,” Tate said. “We appreciate the public understanding this. We are proud of what we have here and we want to maintain that.”

To take a look at the preliminary budget for the city go to http://www.rswy.net/egov/docs/1430879834_894012.pdf