Adding Categories Doesn't Reduce the Budget: The Tale of the Engineering Expendatures

The one good thing about the Police Budget is there was a time when they were able to operate within its constraints.  The same can not be said for Engineering services.  The Engineers have never operated within budget.  Now it is possible that the ignorance of Council may have impacted this condition.  It should be noted that the highest amount of funds spent on Engineering services to date is only 22.38% of the amount budgeted for Police in 2017.

Before reviewing the numbers behind the Engineering budget for the last five years, I would like to address my understanding of "Budget" since there are some that believe that my critical review of the Police Budget may have been based on not understanding what a "Budget" is.  A Budget is a plan on how to spend money over a specified time usually between 1-5 years.  Legislative requirements dictate that for most governmental bodies in the United States from local municipal governments all the way up to the Federal Government that the official process be accomplished on an annual basis.  In fact for many smaller local governing bodies any other time frame would be next to impossible because of all the fluctuations in income and expenses locally.  1) Budgets are not written in stone and can be adjusted periodically to meet changing needs.  2)  Budget overruns could be a result of poor budgeting technique and not poor fiscal administration by department heads. 3) Budgets must be changed when there is a major event that affects spending. My personal beliefs about local government spending budgeting 1)  The budget should be strictly adhered to unless extreme events dictate a change. 2)  The Budgeting process should be a top down process where Council sets the budget and the Departments work within those constraints. 3) The budget should reflect the overall Plan of the Community including all of the service needs.  When possible, and within reason, the budget should also consider the desires of Delmont's Citizens. ( An example of this is the recent interest in Tennis Courts).

Often times in small communities, budget changes are proposed at the council meeting, discussed briefly, voted upon, and then accepted.  I will take up the subject of the Council Meetings themselves in another post.  I am not talking about decisions involving only a couple of hundred dollars; but rather, ens of thousands of dollars or more.  Delmont does not have the fiscal luxury to make such major decisions so late in meetings,.  After a long meeting, most everyone is tired and eager to conclude business.

Five Year Review of Engineering Expenditures

Description	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Budget Amount	$25,000.00	$30,000.00	$30,000.00	$40,000	$40,000
Amount Spent	$29,917.17	$39,771.23	$55,554.34	$63,028.97	$33,447.12
Engineering Pump Station	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	$11,255.28
Road Engineering	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	$16,430.45
MS4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	$9,718.71
Real Total	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	$70,851.56

Since I was elected the Engineering budget has been a concern to many fellow Council members.  Some Council members were suggesting changing Engineers; in fact, I met with another Engineering firm making inquires.  Engineering costs would initially higher to ensure all information was present, and changing firms when there is regulatory involvement can make it more challenging.

But if we take a close look at the numbers we need to ask the question, "Are the engineers disregarding the budgetary constraints, or was the initial budget inadequate?  Perhaps it is a combination."  Another interesting point is in 2016 the Engineers came in under budget, but there were 3 new cost centers added that means in reality money spent would be $30,851.56 over the allotted amount.  2013 was the last year a fair amount was given by Council.  The sequential years Council gave a Budget figure lower then the actual amount spent.  The entire amount of Engineering money spent represents approximately 7% of total budget.  

The important things to remember are the Borough now operates the pump station, and regulations for MS4 and storm water are going to be increasing.  I believe that the three new areas were added to better track expenditures then to cover the extra expenditures.   

It is my opinion that as much information as possible concerning quality of Engineering versus amount of money spent be analyzed, weigh the initial expense if new Engineers are desired, check any possible legal implications of change if desired and do it.  Complaining about the Engineers exceeding faulty Budget numbers is not productive.