Two changes to the budget could make a big difference to future of the city, according to a financial projection given to the city commission Nov. 13 during a work session at City Hall.
“I took out the $95,000 for outside agencies, and added two mills. … Two little tweaks like that made that much difference,” said Donna Pickman, director of finance for the city.
The financial plan, projecting the next five years, showed a pretty large swing in ending balances with those two changes happening in the 2020 budget.
The ending balance swung from a negative $3.1 million to a negative $1.8 million — a difference of more than $1 million. The commission did not discuss how to prevent going into the negative in year five of the plan, looking primarily at the effect on the 2019 budget and 2020 budget — namely an increase in the ending balance in 2020.
The removal of outside agencies would mean no longer funding Health Ministries ($40,000), the Chamber of Commerce ($30,00) and Grand Central ($25,000).
(Read more: Newton Kansan)