At its Monday, November 14, meeting, the Blaine City Council will hold a public hearing on the city’s 2012 draft budget.

The city expects to bring in about $4.957 million into its general fund in 2012, 1.3 percent more than in 2011, and spend about $4.954 million, 1.7 percent more than in 2011.

I’ve crunched some numbers for the general fund, and it appears spending on law enforcement makes up about a quarter (25.7 percent) of the city’s estimated expenditures for 2012. The city estimates it will spend approximately $1.2 million on law enforcement, with an additional $637,000 being spent on public safety administration and correctional/detention costs (re: the city jail). Spending in all these areas has increased by about 1.3 percent since last year since 2011.

The city has placed a PDF version of its draft budget online. Click here to take a look at it.

The city council meeting will start at 6 p.m. on Monday, November 14, at Blaine city hall.

Below I've prepared a table showing all the main categories of expenditures in the general fund, what amounts were in the 2011 budget, what amounts are in the 2012 draft budget, the percent change from 2011 to 2012 and the percent each category comprises of the 2012 budget. All figures in the two left-hand columns are dollars while the remaining columns are percentages. 

 

General Fund Section	2011 Adopted Budget	2012 Budget	Percent Change (Compared to 2011 Budget)	Percent of Total 2012 General Fund Expenditures
Legislative Total	40,506	44,774	10.5	0.9
Municipal Court Total	246,916	263,379	6.7	5.6
City Manager Total	148,075	147,996	-0.1	3.2
Finance Administration Total	359,151	312,111	-13.1	6.7
Utility Billing Total	525,816	257,224	1.7	5.5
Financial Services Total	114,388	130,410	14	2.8
City Clerk Total	207,855	206,415	-0.7	4.4
Legal Total	30,000	30,000	0	0.6
Personnel Services Total	9,440	12,650	34	0.3
Building Maintenance Total	191,548	192,101		4.1
Management Information Systems Total (Includes Information Technology)	165,562	195,576	18.1	4.2
Other General Government Services Total	9,288	9,094	-2.1	0.2
Public Safety Administration Total	533,749	537,024	0.6	11.5
Law Enforcement Total	1,184,201	1,200,544	1.4	25.7
Detention and/or Correction Total	95,000	100,000	5.3	2.1
Emergency Services Total	10,200	10,200	0	0.2
Public Safety Capital Expenditures Total
Pollution Control Total	1,659	1,677	1.1	0.04
Animal Control Total	15,571	14,900	-4.3	0.3
Tourism Total (Visitor Information Center)	94,033	81,166	-3.4	1.7
Planning Total	322,977	317,631	-1.7	6.8
Community Development Total	51,664	51,275	-0.8	1.1
Building Inspection Total	99,986	102,892	2.9	2.2
Mental and Physical Health Total	3,197	3,197	0	0.07
Culture and Recreation Total	80,000	140,450	75.6	3
Total Transfers Out to Other City Funds	289,727	265,427	-8.4	5.7
Total General Fund Expenditures	4,600,509	4,679,963	1.7