Politics & Government
City Adopts Larger 2012 Budget
This year the City spending plan grew 8.4 percent over last year, despite difficult economic conditions and decreased intergovernmental revenue.
The Gaithersburg City Council passed its Fiscal Year 2012 budget at its weekly meeting Monday night.
The total budget for FY2012, which begins July 1 of this year, is about $47.9 million, an 8.4 percent increase over FY2011.
Originally, the city expected less than $80,000 from the state in the form of Highway User Funds. This money provides for the construction, maintenance and repair of roads across the state. The city was notified just before the preliminary budget, which is released for public input and discussion, was finalized that the city would be getting $396,000 instead, City Manager Angel Jones said Monday night.
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This amount is still far lower than the historical average of $1.7 million. Over the past few years, the city has seen a continued decrease in these funds: in FY 2010 it received about $217,000, while in FY2011 the amount was $164,100. City staff is hopeful that the amount will continue to increase as the economy improves, Jones said.
The reduction in Highway User Funds reflects the large amount of cuts in funding from both state and federal sources. "Governments at all levels are engaged in significant cost reduction strategies, and funds are being withheld at unprecedented levels," Jones said. According to the budget, the city received 5.3 percent less from higher levels of government than in FY2011.
