City of Gaffney budget projections show shortfall of about $550,000
By LARRY HILLIARD Ledger Staff Writer larry@gaffneyledger.com

Proposed expenditures outpace projected revenues by about $550,000 in the new City of Gaffney fiscal year budget, administrator James Taylor said.

Taylor blamed a portion of the increased expenses on rising fuel costs.

Taylor made his remarks Friday to finance committee members.

The committee heard from city department supervisors who presented their proposed budgets.

The proposed requests included additional personnel for the fire and police departments and a couple of dump trucks for the public works department.

According to Taylor, the city is expected to take in about $10 million in revenue during the new fiscal year while expenses could total more than $10.5 million, leaving a shortfall of $550,000.

In a positive fiscal sign, Taylor added that projected revenues were up about $100,000 primarily because of new business growth along Floyd Baker Boulevard as well as the taxes generated by the Starmax Entertainment Center near the outlet mall.

Employee raises are always a hot topic at the finance committee meeting - and this year was no exception.

Taylor said the city is considering shelling out more in Christmas bonuses rather than a modest cost-of-living raise. City employees currently receive a $500 Christmas bonus.

Taylor said he will spend the next few weeks refining the revenue projections and eliminating nonessential budget requests from supervisors' wish lists in order to have some firm budget figures for finance committee chairman Billy Love to give to full council May 5.