This is the fourth and final article on the 2011-2012 City of Brady Budget.

The Brady Special Fund is the smallest of the funds in the city budget, accounting for about $3.1 million (16%) of the total budget. Three City Departments (Pass-Through Dept, Senior Citizens Dept and Community Development Dept)  operate under the Special Fund.

The activities funded by the Special Fund do not fit neatly into the normal public services people expect from small city government. Much of the Special Fund revenue is derived from state and federal grants.

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Created: 18 February 2012

Read more: Brady Special Fund Summary

This the third in a series of articles about the Brady City Budget. The $20 million budget is broken down into three funds for accounting purposes. The Utility Fund is by far the largest (about $13 million) and accounts for about 64% of the total budget. As noted in the article on the General Fund, money is transferred out of the Utility Fund to provide about two-thirds of the revenue for General Fund expenditures.

Nine City Departments operate out of the Utility Fund. Here is a summary (rounded to the nearest thousand dollars) of the net revenue generated by each:

• Power Plant: -$6,000
• Electric Distribution: +$2,817,000
• Sewer Department: +$172,000
• Water Department: +$710,000
• Gas Department: +$579,000
• Meter Shop: -$104,000
• Billing & Collection: -$144,000
• Utility Support: +$248,000
• Solid Waste Department: +$104,000

Here are some random and incomplete notes on items within each department budget:

• The Power Plant expenditure is the cost of decommissioning the old City of Brady Power Plant that once stood on the bank of Brady Creek at the west end of 1st Street.
• The Electric Distribution department will borrow $235,000 and make principle payments of $187,000 on previous borrowing.
• Power purchased by the Electric Distribution department cost $4,093,000
• The Electric Distribution Department will transfer out $2,817,000 to other city departments
• All of the net revenue from the Sewer Department ($172,000) is transferred to other city departments
• The Water Department will transfer out $367,000 to other city departments and pay $343,000 in previous debt principle
• The Utility Support Department requires a transfer in of $160,000 from other city departments to show a net revenue of $248,000. Their function is described on page 106 of the PDF document or on page BB of the printed budget.
• The Solid Waste Department transfers out $59,000 to other city departments.

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Created: 11 February 2012

Trying to summarize the City of Brady budget gets confusing because of the way the information is presented. There are 123 pages in the document, but they are not numbered consecutively. It begins with four unnumbered pages followed by pages “a” through “k”. Then there are letter designated pages “A” through “FF” mingled in with numbered pages 1 through 69.

This probably makes perfect sense to someone, somewhere (maybe it is even mandated by law or federal regulation), but it makes it difficult for the average citizen to quickly glance through the document and see where public funds come from and how they are spent. It takes hours of patient study. The following is a summary that will give every citizen an idea of the Brady General Fund revenues and expenses. The numbers are rounded and hit high points only. For details, download the City of Brady 2011-2012 budget and see for yourself.

The bulk of the money in the General Fund is transferred to it from the Utility Fund. This transfer is about $3,000,000 or about 67% of the total General Fund revenue. Sales Tax receipts amount to $760,000 (17%) and Property Taxes add another $520,000 (11%). The remaining 5% comes from other sources detailed in the budget including borrowing.

How is the General Fund spent? Here is a very general list of net spending (income less expenses):

• Airport $170,000
• General Property Maintenance $286,000
• Mayor and City Council $25,000
• Golf Course $269,000
• Swimming Pool $63,000
• Fire Department $697,000 (excluding an $80,000 subsidy from McCulloch Co)
• Police Department $1,005,000
• Street $830,000 (including $236,000 transferred in directly)
• Civic Center $13,000
• Municipal Court $24,000
• Community Service $48,000
• Repair Shop $57,000
• Animal Control $52,000
• EMS $68,000 (after $80,000 from McCulloch Co, $90,000 from the Hospital and $550,000 in service revenue)
• Lake $136,000
• G Rollie White $8,000
• Financial Administration $217,000
• Building and Permitting $142,000
• Emergency Management runs a $21,000 surplus after subsidies from outside sources totaling $92,000. It is the only General Budget item that has a surplus.

 This article is a summary of the City of Brady General Fund revenues and net expenses only (18% of the total Brady City Budget).

Future articles will attempt to summarize the Utility Fund (64%) and Special Services Fund (16%). Two percent of the current budget will be funded by loan proceeds (borrowing).

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Created: 06 February 2012

The Brady City Council adopted their budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2011 and ending September 30, 2012 on August 24, 2011.

The total City of Brady budget for the current fiscal year is $20,069,984.

On the Income side of the ledger, they expect to receive $12,817,267 from the Utility Fund, $3,665,849 from the General Fund and $3,121,368 from the Special Service Fund.

On the Expense side of the ledger, they plan to spend $9,559,940 on the Utility Fund, $7,148,059 on the General Fund and $3,361,985 on the Special Services Fund.

To make the budget balance, they will need to borrow about $465,500 this year.

The reason the budget is 123 pages long is because the details (what goes into and out of each of these three Funds) are complicated and confusing. We will try to summarize each in future articles. The entire 2011-2012 City Budget is Available for viewing or download. Just click the link below.

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Created: 31 January 2012

Did you know the City of Brady is spending $20 million this  year?  That is approximately $3,759 for every man, woman and child in Brady.

We, the People, heard some folks talking about the City of Brady budget recently.  We were shocked by the amount and wondered if the budget was comparable to other communities of our size. Taking a cue from Gomer Pyle, “Surprise, Surprise”, it’s the largest budget we could find for Texas cities in the 5000-6000 population range.  The City of Kerrville also has a $20 million budget, but has a population of 22,826, more than 4 times larger than Brady.

Most cities in our population range rely on taxes to determine their budgets.  But not Brady! The City of Brady gouges its citizens for another $12-13 million through its distribution charge on electricity and its utility fund.  If you read about the distribution charge on your city bill, it tells you that the distribution charge provides “for the operational needs of the utility systems and other City-provided services such as 24/7 Fire, EMS, and Police protection; Parks; Cemeteries, and Street maintenance; and Lake, Airport, and Golf Course recreational amenities.”

The City of Brady uses utility distribution charges as a huge City Tax disguised as service.

Stewardship is an ethic that applies to both faith and government.  It means responsible planning and management of resources.  The concept of stewardship has been applied in diverse realms, including economics, health, property, information, and religion.  It is linked to the idea of sustainability.  It refers to a responsibility to take care of something belonging to someone else. 

We, the People, expect better stewardship of our resources than we are receiving from our elected City Council.

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Created: 15 January 2012