Council gives thumbs up to budget guidelines

Mitch Borden/KMXT

The Kodiak City Council approved its budget guidelines for the fiscal year 2019 at its last regular meeting on Thursday(1/25). The guidelines do not directly affect the city financially, but they do tell city staff how the council wants them to form the upcoming year’s budget.

Mike Tvenge, Kodiak’s city manager, says he uses the guidelines as he decides,

“How to utilize the city’s resources and provision of services for the next fiscal year.”

Councilman John Whiddon pointed out a change the council made to this year’s guidelines that he thinks is important, but could be overlooked.

“The general fund will be budgeted without a deficit, which means we won’t draw down on our reserve funds and this is a big, big change. A significant challenge to staff to stay within our means, but it’s what we’ve talked about all along is that we will not spend more than we have.”

The council voted unanimously to pass the guidelines for the upcoming year. Discussions on how to limit the city’s spending and how it can generate more revenue will continue though.

Recently, the council and staff have talked about a potential tax on alcohol and tobacco, tightening up certain tax exemptions it offers, and limiting staff’s travel budgets.