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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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