City of Lakewood announcement.
The City’s finances are in good shape. The City produced its 2021 Q3 Financial Report recently and reviewed it with City Council during the Dec. 13 meeting.
The City has its highest ending fund balance since 2007 due to cautious financial management. The City reduced expenditures by about 9.1% in 2020 and observed only a 4.5% drop in revenue. Expenditure reductions were realized through hiring freezes, training and travel pauses, fleet and equipment expense reductions, and other measures.
Sales tax collection data reveals interesting economic insights. Construction-related tax revenue is up 32% year-over-year, and revenues from motor vehicle sales have increased by 83% from this time last year. The service sector including food & beverage-related businesses has rebounded nicely.
The City’s three largest revenue sources of General Fund operating revenues include sales tax (26%), property tax (18%), and utility tax (14%).
The City’s healthy financial picture has allowed capital investment projects like road and park improvements to proceed on schedule. Federal American Rescue Plan Act funds are being applied towards community programs rather than budget repair. A healthy cash balance allows for investment into one-time expenditures like the Economic Development Opportunity Fund in the works to fuel business resiliency.
The City of Lakewood’s budget and policies are public:
If we have a budget surplus, could we please get our burned out streetlights replaced after a couple of months of an outage? We have been told by City staff told that there is not enough budget to replace the bulbs, which I think is odd; Lakeview Light was out immediately to replace bulbs and keep residents safe. If the City cannot do the job, kindly find someone to do it with your advertised budget surplus. thank you
Mandy—this doesn’t make much sense. Happy to follow up. Most street lights owned by the city have been retrofitted with LED lights throughout the city. If Lakeview Light is replacing bulbs, they may not be city-owned lights.
Rachel at the City has told me several times that the City’ s budget does not have enough funds and bulb inventory to adequately replace street lights in a timely fashion. Ours, at a very dark cul de sac with senior citizens, has been out for over two months (it is very dark, and we have had car breakins and home windows smashed during this time). I mentioned Lakeview Light because when they were handling lights in years past, the replacements came immediately. I am not sure why the City took on street lights if they cannot provide the service to keep us safe. thanks, Jason. m
Hi, Mandy,
I received a response from the City Manager on your inquiry and note. The issue is not funding; it is apparently supply chain. They are on order (10-12 weeks out, I am told) and once the city receives a replenishment of lights, this light and any others that are out will be replaced.
Ultimately, the city is looking to upgrade the lights to increase reliability. Hope that helps!
–Jason