The Fayetteville City Council April 2 voted unanimously to adopt a $263,211 amendment to the general fund budget brought on largely by decreasing sales tax revenues. The city has seen a decrease of more than 8 percent in Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) in the past year.

“This mid-year amendment puts into place the work by the Finance Department,” said Mayor Ken Steele prior to the vote. “As of this time we have a balanced budget to meet the needs of the city. And we’ll continue to respond (to conditions) as needed.”

Assistant Finance Director Ellen Walls said in an earlier statement that the city has seen a decrease in LOST revenues of 8.09 percent since last year. That decrease in revenues is expected to result in a reduction in the LOST revenues column from $7,840,327 to $7,488,340, a difference of $351,987. That decrease is offset by gains in other general fund categories.

Some general fund revenue sources such as fines and forfeitures and miscellaneous income are projected to end the year in the black while others, such as investment income, are expected to be in the red. In total, the overall general fund is expected to see a shortfall of $263,211. With all line items considered, the general fund was amended to total $10,324,935, down from $10,588,146 at the beginning of the fiscal year Aug. 1.

The budget amendment also included an adjustment to the water and sewer fund, expected to see a $1.256 million decrease in revenue, the bulk of which is in the wastewater budget.

Walls previously stated that the state-mandated reduction in water use has resulted locally in a 20 percent reduction in water use. That reduction shows up in wastewater revenues, she said. Also affecting the water and sewer fund is a dramatic decrease in the sewer proportionate fee collected when builders connect to the city sewer system.

As she had done at the first reading, city Finance Director Lynn Robinson recommended approval of the budget amendment.

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