By Julie Van Domelen, Mayor

Redstone Review

LYONS – In last month’s Mayor’s Corner column I reflected on the achievements and hard work of 2009, all in all a difficult year. It’s the beginning of 2010 and time to focus on the year ahead. For the town the biggest challenges are probably going to continue to be economic. It’s not easy to transmit information about the budget and town’s finances – it usually seems mundane, boring and hard to figure out. But it is at the crux of everything this coming year, so I’m going to take a crack at it. Here’s where staff and the board will need to focus in 2010 in each of our main budget areas:

Finding long-term stability in the General Fund. Despite strong efforts to trim operating costs in 2009 and in the 2010 budget, we are not out of the woods yet in our General Fund. The bottom line is that the General Fund has been using up its reserves, with expenditures exceeding revenues since 2007. The 2010 budget reduces this annual deficit to about $65,000 (down from a high of $231,000 in 2008), but we will reach the minimum advisable level of fund balance by the end of 2010, so this practice of using up reserves to cover operating costs will also end.

The buck stops in 2011. With the defeat of the sales tax increase, the town has one year to find ways to come up with about $100,000 to $150,000 from some combination of more revenue or less expenditure going into 2011 – this target amount will balance the budget, ensure a minimum level of capital investment and reinstate a full work calendar. Hopefully some of the investments being made by new and expanding businesses as well as town’s economic development efforts (finishing the Main Street project, a marketing and buy local campaign, promotion of events, incentives, streamlining and reducing the cost of doing business in Lyons, etc.) will help our sales tax revenue rebound to fill in at least part of this gap. But, sales tax revenues would have to grow by 50 percent to make up that difference. This is a tall order. There are other opportunities. Finding a way to refinance or pay off the mortgage on the Post Office property which the town owns would free up almost $98,000 in annual lease payments to the town. Inclusion of more of the existing commercial properties on the east side of our planning area into town limits would also increase our revenue base. Expanded events, like the Lyons Centurion bike race slated for summer 2010 should bring more revenue to the town.

Balancing the budget in the Parks and Recreation Fund. The story is similar in the Parks and Recreation Fund. Operating deficits since 2007 have come about from a combination of declining revenue (from a peak of over $690,000 in 2007 to $398,000 projected for 2010) and rising operating costs (growing from about $358,000 in 2007 to about $480,000 in 2010). This situation has led to fund balances being used to cover operating deficits. The 2010 budget shows an operating deficit of about $93,000. The key challenge is to come up with some combination of reductions in operating costs and increases in revenues that staunches the drain on the fund balance. These balances, built up with one-time fees from new construction, should be reserved to provide matching funds for grants to improve infrastructure, make investments that will help raise revenues and other capital improvements.  Town staff and the Parks and Recreation Commission will be rolling up their sleeves in 2010 to come up with a more balanced budget for the department for 2011 and beyond.

The Library Fund faces the challenge of how to develop a library that can better serve the needs of the community. With technical support from Colorado State University, town staff, the Library Board and the ad-hoc committee formed to develop proposals will be exploring our options. Possibilities for forming a library district will be considered.  There is a great deal of enthusiasm in the community about developing our library into a better resource for businesses, non-profits, students, and the community as a whole, and  2010 will hopefully see a proposal brought forth.

Within the Utility Funds – the electric, water and sanitation funds – the challenges are to promote sustainability and reduce our debt. In the water fund, Lyons currently has some of the highest water rates on the Front Range, driven in part by the high debt incurred to make the improvements to switch over to Longmont water. We have a large amount of reserves built up from recent building permits and tap fees. We are using a small part of the reserves to retire a small portion of the debt in early 2010. A good financial plan, including looking at any capital needs over the next five years and at opportunities like selling the old water plant property in Apple Valley, will need to be developed in 2010 to see if we can pay off our larger debts early, which will reduce pressure on our water rates.

In terms of power, everyone in town buys their electricity through the municipal utility. Whether it’s to save money or save the planet, there is a great deal of citizen interest in using energy more efficiently and finding ways to incorporate more renewable energy use (solar, wind etc.). Nowadays, most electric utilities offer a broad range of incentives, rebates, and other programs to support this, like weatherization campaigns, net metering or voluntary purchase of renewable through the grid. There is a great deal of funding available from the State and Federal level for the new energy economy – much of it available through Federal stimulus funding in 2010. With the help of the Sustainable Future Commission, staff and the board will need to take advantage of these opportunities in 2010.

In a nutshell, the continued financial pressures will require the town to live within its means, but also be both creative and diligent at finding opportunities and efficiencies that will create a more solid footing for the future. I guess for all of us, the realization that the future will probably not be business as usual can be both an exciting and sobering challenge. Here’s to the New Year.

Julie Van Domelen was elected mayor  in a special election in 2008. She can be reached at: juliev@townoflyons.com.

Back to Top