Budget talks begin early for council
The Fort Myers Beach Town Council discussed various budget options in a quarterly review for the 2010-11 fiscal year during a Management and Planning work session at Town Hall Wednesday, Feb. 24. The council directed Manager Terry Stewart to begin setting budget priorities for its March 24 “Strategic Planning” workshop agenda.
One derivative from the meeting involves town staff preparing an end-of-the-month budget report and a quarterly review for council critique. These numbers would provide a merited analysis for the upcoming budget process and a good boilerplate for the following budget year.
“You should have access to that information if you have questions,” said Stewart. “It gives me an opportunity to use it in an operational sense on an ongoing basis. It’s really vital for everyone to understand that a budget is not an exact number. It is an educated and wise estimate at what is going to be done. It is a living document that changes during the year.”
Mayor Larry Kiker liked the concept of a reporting module. He applauded Stewart’s programmatic perspective of allowing all elements of cost to the organization.
“This is what I’ve been pushing for for three years,” said Kiker. “We need a reporting module not an accounting module to run this business with.”
The council examined several areas of budget reallocations and discussed revenue and expenditure choices. Spreadsheets were distributed, budgetary year-to-date numbers were relayed and an underbudget figure was disclosed.
After council members offered suggestions on what to do with the excess money, Stewart was cautious with his explanation to sit firm.
“You need to take a look at what the reasons are for being underbudget,” he said. “There are some costs that come later in the year. Looking at it in a quarterly report, there is going to be a whole bunch of money sitting there.”
The new town manager appears to be looking forward to his first budgetary task on Fort Myers Beach. He complimented the Beach council’s direction.
“I really great guide for a manager is when there has been strategic planning done with the goals and objectives outlined and authorities established,” said Stewart. “I cannot expressed to you how encouraged I am to be able to sit here today and listen to the conversations I heard. It shows me there is a recognition that, yes, we need to operate like a business, and we need to enable the business manager that you’ve chosen to do the work that you’ve asked for him to do.”