Belt tightening pays off for Mapleton

MAPLETON — Tightening the financial belt apparently has paid off for Mapleton.

Going into the 2010 fiscal year, Mapleton leaders were worried that city revenues would fall well short of expenses, even though the City Council raised taxes the previous year. But after some departmental tightening, the city added $223,000 to its reserves, Mayor Laurel Brady said in the city's October newsletter.

Mapleton has no immediate plans for the savings, which will remain in the reserves, said David Allen, city controller.

Much of the shortfall came from building fees that never materialized when construction slowed.

Officials anticipated the 2009-10 fiscal-year general fund would have revenues of $3.67 million, which instead came in at $3.63 million — a shortfall of $35,471, Brady said. However, department heads more than made up the difference by trimming their budgets from 1 percent to more than 16 percent, saving about $259,000.

"I attribute it to the employees themselves by being extremely frugal," Brady said.

When reduced revenue became apparent a year ago, city leaders cut overtime, eliminated one position and shortened the hours on several others. The remaining employees made up for that workload without working overtime, Brady said. At least one other position remains unfilled when that employee left, she said.

However, the city filled its controller position in August with Allen, formerly the Springville finance director, when the previous controller left amid charges of impropriety.

Some employees challenged their reduced hours, but the City Council rejected their appeal.

"(Eliminating overtime) was the big one," Brady said, "and it was in every department."

Employees juggled their hours to avoid working overtime, particularly in the public-works department last winter when the roads needed plowing during snowstorms.

"It got done when it was needed," she said.

Police officers, too, covered for each other to obey the no-overtime mandate, Brady said.

The city also postponed vacations for some workers and cost-of-living or merit increases, despite a 3.9 percent increase in the state's consumer-price index. City officials also posted signs in the City Hall restrooms to turn off the lights when leaving.

The city's enterprise funds, which include water, solid waste and pressurized irrigation, all broke even with expenses, with some doing a bit better than that, although the sewer fund came up short last fiscal year, Brady said.

The City Council hasn't yet decided how to deal with that. The bulk of the sewer fund comes from fees residents pay, Allen said.

The 2010 general-fund budget is $3.2 million, a decrease of about $500,000 from a year ago.

e-mail: rodger@desnews.com