City’s financial condition improving

Madera’s city budget is in better shape than people thought it would be this time of year.

That was the message city Finance Director Tim Przybyla brought to the City Council Wednesday night during a mid-fiscal-year review of the city’s financial situation.

“The City of Madera is fiscally strong,” Przybyla said, “with more than $14 million in reserve in the general fund.”

He said the water and sewer funds were also meeting their debt-service covenants.

When the budget was adopted six months ago, the picture was not as rosy.

“Over the last four years, the City of Madera has moved from a position where it was behind on its debt-service coverage in the Water Fund and facing a mounting list of deferred maintenance in both the Water Fund and the Sewer Fund to a point where debt service coverage is adequate and funds are available to keep the water and sewer systems functioning properly and adequately to meet the city’sneeds for years to come,” Przybyla wrote in his report.

“Rate increases were necessary to ensure that the water and sewer systems continue to work properly. “

He also said the city’s credit rating had improved.

Przybyla said city staff and the City Council had agreed at the beginning of the current fiscal year to find ways to hold back on enough expenditures to balance the budget by the end of the fiscal year.

“We are well on track to accomplish that goal,” he said. “Certain programs were reduced, or even eliminated, and the departments continue to hold back on other expenditures. At the same time, revenues appear to be coming in close to budget.”