Editor’s note: This story was originally posted last Thursday. Concerns about its journalistic integrity called for a review of it by the editor and it has been edited to include the full report, just not the portion dealing with the Parks and Recreation Department.
While there was no call or recommendation today for closing them or reducing hours during city council’s first budget work session last Thursday, City Manager Paul Sabiston presented a memo to the governing body detailing the costs of keeping certain facilities within Roanoke Rapids open.
“Many departments such as finance are credited with the ‘benefit’ of the revenue collected from property taxes, for example, even though many departments such as police, fire and parks and recreation are the ‘reason’ why the city is able to collect such property taxes,” the memo says. “Therefore, those departments may appear to be more costly than they actually are in reality.”
A chart included in the memo details estimated savings if the following programs or facilities are closed or discontinued:
Chaloner Recreation Center. It costs $79,078 annually to run. It brings in $5,000 a year, its net cost $74,078. Projected savings are $38,634.
Jo Story Senior Center. It costs $78,816 a year to run. It brings in $34,800 a year, its net cost $44,016. Projected savings are $35,716.
Hodegestown. It costs $4,939 annually to run. It brings in $4,800 a year, its net cost $139. Net savings would be $139, although the figure doesn’t include projections from the sale of real property.
Canal Museum. It costs $75,661 a year to run. Its annual revenue is $36,000, a net cost of $39,661. Projected savings are $32,661.
Savings, the memo notes, include analysis of facility maintenance, utilities and sometimes portions of employee costs that may remain even if the program is discontinued.
Meanwhile, the memo also includes profit and loss breakdowns off all phases of city government. It does not include a breakdown of the theater.
The following is the data for last fiscal year:
Elected officials show a loss of $54,639 with no revenues.
General government shows a loss of $522,919 with no revenues.
Administration shows a loss of $307,140 with no revenues.
Elections shows a $2,937 loss with no revenues.
The finance department, which receives revenues such as sales tax, payments in lieu of taxes, beer and wine taxes, ABC profits, video franchise fee, occupancy tax and utility franchise taxes, shows a profit of $3,714,628.
Information systems shows a loss of $88,286 with no revenues.
Revenue collections shows a profit of $7,121,215. It has expenses of $238,576.
Legal shows a loss of $17,498 with no revenues.
Planning, building and code enforcement, in which code enforcement is required by law, shows a loss of $303,319.65. It brought in revenue of $80,394.35.
Government buildings show a loss of $75,107 with no revenue.
The police department shows a loss $2,747,010. It brought in revenues through municipal ordinance violations and seizures of $67,776.
The fire department shows a loss of $1,687,287 with no revenue.
Public works shows a loss of $271,894 with no revenue.
The street department shows a loss of $593,488 with no revenue.
Powell Bill shows a loss of $51,041.41. Expenses were $511,490.
Solid waste shows a profit of $603,432 with revenues of $1,153,498 such as the solid waste user fee and solid waste disposal tax.
Refuse shows a loss of $380,252 with no revenues but those collected under solid waste.
The central garage shows a loss of $197,404 with no revenue.
The cemetery shows a profit of $103,996 with revenues of $121,432.
Property maintenance shows a loss of $97,255 with no revenue.
T.J. Davis last fiscal year received $29,148.66 in revenues and cost $325,756 to run, a loss of $298,607.34.
The Aquatic Center got $45,564.34 last fiscal year. It cost $191,195 to run, a loss of $145,640.66.
Parks show a loss of $289,863 with $1,507 in revenues.
The library last fiscal year received $48,173.73. It cost $236,901 to run, a loss of $188,727.27.
The municipal swimming shows a profit of $3,200.54 with revenues of $9,220.93.
The Kirkwood Adams Community Center shows a profit of $21,639 with revenues of $56,591.80.
