Mayor Feiszli Explains Fund Balance and Cortland Budget

To the Citizens of Cortland:

There seems to be some confusion about the fund balance and my not raising taxes for the last two budgets

These are two separate issues.

The nearly 2 million dollar fund balance is mainly because of Highgate and the selling of properties for back taxes. It also has to do with changing how the City operates vs. past practices.

Think of that money going into a savings account or a 401K to be used for emergencies only.

The City needs to have a healthy fund balance to have a good bond rating to keep the interest rate for borrowing low. It is like your credit rating. If you have a bad credit rating it costs you more to borrow money. With a healthy fund balance it costs the City less to borrow for large capital projects.

Over the years, former Administrations have depleted the fund balance AND raised taxes at the same time just to cover year to year expenses rather than trying to control them.

When I took office two years ago, we had overspent to the point that the fund balance had disappeared and the City owed over $300,000. What this means is that former administrations spent money that they didn’t have.

The City Budget is more like your checkbook. We had X amount of dollars to spend for 2012 and X amount of money to use from revenue generated from sales and property tax.

I could have raised your taxes to cover increased expenses or used some of the restored fund balance, like former administrations had, but I didn't. We made do with what we had and lived within our means. Period.

By working with Department Heads and our Finance Department we were able to balance the "checkbook" by finding ways to provide the same services without raising your taxes.

This was not just accomplished the last few weeks. It took two years of hard work to be where we are today. For the first time EVER Department Heads have been working together to keep expenses down. Some measures to save money resulted in “Improper Practice” charges from Unions against the administration, but I felt they were in the best interest of the taxpayers. Past Practices Had to Stop!

And it worked. The Departments have taken down the wall and are now sharing employees and equipment to get the job done which eliminates duplication of services by increased communication.

We now have a healthy fund balance, and are keeping overspending in control.

Mayor Susan Feiszli

Editor's note: You may read this and other posts by Mayor Feiszli at link  www.facebook.com/pages/Mayor-Susan-Feiszli/215502941817168.
In her two-year term, property taxes were not increased. Did former Mayors Walsh, Tytler or Gallagher do this? On the contrary--