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Show . . . c i ; .-r-i . worn . , !t AWI Bountiful budget in cred but only temporarily By GARY R. BLODGETT Editor BOUNTIFUL City Manager Tom Hardy told the Bountiful Bounti-ful City Council Wednesday night that expenditures exceed revenues thus far this fiscal year, "but that is to be expected." "I'll give you the bad news first by telling you that the city has spent $908,000 during the first two months of the 1986-87 fiscal year and revenues for the same period total only $487,000," he said. But he quickly added that this is "normal" and went on to explain that there is always a "lag time" in the early part of the fiscal year while revenue returns catch up with expenditures. He noted that property taxes for example, lag behind in revenues received for at least the first six months until the taxes are collected in late November and dispersed to the cities shortly thereafter. (Many Utah entities will bond for the money needed for this period of time and pay off the short-term bond as soon as taxes are in the coffers. Bountiful does not do this it generates fight the case at that time, so we simply left them out of the district." There is also a lag in quarterly sales tax for the first few months and while franchise taxes do come in, this tax income is highest during the winter months when residents and businesses use more natural gas, the city manager explained. On the other side of the coin, building permits were "sky high" this summer, and recreation fees were probably the highest high-est on record with the "best ever" June, July and August for both the city-owned swimming pool and ice rink and participation participa-tion at the Bountiful Golf Course. The building permits for the summer, however, were entirely single-dwelling homes with no permits issued from May until the end of August for apartments or condominiums. Bountiful car dealers, like those all along the Wasatch Front, experienced a "boom" in sales the past couple of months because be-cause of extreme lowering of interest rates on new vehicles. "But sales tax for this period won't show up in the city coffers until next quarter," the city manager explained. "After that, the outlook should be real good with a surge in sales and franchise taxes and receipt of the property taxes due the city." Meanwhile, capital improvements expenses also "strongly outweigh" revenues with $653,000 spent during July and August Au-gust compared to only $78,000 received. Despite all the "juggling," the city budget is in excellent shape for this time of year with revenues and expenditures on target and no reason to revise the budget at tis time, said Mr. Hardy. The council agreed. ? CUPPERJIM HASKETT THERE'S BEEN MORE than a tinge of winter, in the air, this past week, as temperatures have plummeted to around freezing at night and poked barely above 50 during the day. These youngsters were trying some gymnastics out on a school playground. Making the most of what time's still left for outdoor fun this fall. |