Update on city of Watertown budget

The City Council's budget discussions this spring have been long, nearly 12 hours spread over three meetings. In light of those discussions, ‘tis the season to have fun with numbers:

The budget binder contains 302 pages. With 12 hours of deliberations logged, the council spent an average of 2.5 minutes reviewing each page.

That's not necessarily true though. The council, lead by Councilman Jeffrey M. Smith, debated the municipal arena roof for about two hours during discussions, leaving 10 hours for the remaining budget. That lowers the council's per-page review time to just shy of two minutes. That's two minutes per page on a $46.8 million budget. Outside of Monday night's meeting, the council had not made a single change to the budget during the previous week.

Here are the latest numbers:

The new tax rate will depend on the final levy. After all of the jostling with numbers, here are some unknowns that need to be factored into the budget:

• The city has no clue how much it will cost to renovate the aviary exhibit at the zoo.
• Roughly $45,000 needs to be added to clean the former Ogilvie Foods site on North Pleasant Street.
• The state Department of Environmental Conservation wants the city to shore up the bank of a fill site near BiCentennial Park. That could cost about $150,000.
• The city wants to resurface the roof and upgrade the concession stand using $125,000 originally allotted solely for the roof. That project will need to be put out to bid.
• The city has four high-profile vacancies that will likely be filled: city planner, confidential assistant to the city manager, fire chief and deputy fire chief. Those salaries account for about $180,000, although when those positions are filled and how much each person earns will affect their respective line items.
• Monday night, the council agreed to request home rule legislation to increase the fees it charges for vital records. That change could score the council another $60,000 annually, although how long it will take to have the legislation enacted is a mystery based on the dysfunction in Albany.

The group also increased the amount the city is projecting for sales tax revenue to a total of $15.3 million. Increasing the projection for that revenue put the levy increase at $281,630, or 20 percent less than the $355,670 levy increase the city was first asking to collect from taxpayers.

The total levy now sits at $7.6 million.