The city of Cortez is slated to pass its roughly $30.7 million 2016 budget on Dec. 8.
The proposed 2016 budget contains a number of capital projects, including the City Hall improvement project. The city is seeking a $2 million matching grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs to assist with the overhaul its recent $3 million purchase of the Cortez Journal building at 123 N. Roger Smith Ave.
Of the $30.7 million, $18.5 million is for operations throughout the city, and $8.5 million is for capital projects. Aside from the new City Hall remodel, other larger capital projects on the block for 2016 include a $2.1 million fiber project, a $1 million water project, and roughly $1.8 million in street-improvement projects, some of which are carryovers from 2015, said city finance director Kathi Moss.
Broken down, appropriations are as follows: $3.6 million for the water fund; $499,157 for the airport fund; $1.3 million for the solid waste collection fund; $787,437 for the dispatch fund; $1.94 million for the recreation center fund; $2.5 million for the Cortez Community Network (fiber optics); $142,957 for the hydroplant fund; and $8.5 million for capital projects, the largest of which is the City Hall improvement project, which is coming out of the general fund.
There are $1.2 million in capital improvements from the water fund; $2.1 million for a fiber project; and $1.764 million for street-improvement funds (part are carryover from projects this year that are going into next year); and $956,419 for the shop fund.
There’s also $2.2 million for the self-insured health fund; $295,000 for the equipment fund; $1.9 million for the street-improvement fund; $273,124 for the lodgers tax fund; $142,000 for the conservation trust fund; $683,077 for the technology fund; and $6,050 for the grant administration fund.
Moss noted that there are two more larger, departmental budget presentations – public works and parks and recreation – slated for a council workshop on Dec. 1, so the final total could be adjusted pending those presentations.