Wrangell borough officials released their draft budget Tuesday for the upcoming fiscal year 2016.
Although major budget cuts are being made at the state level, Wrangell residents will not see significant changes in municipal services.
Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch said the draft budget is based on the current mill rate of 12.75. He said the state budget cuts to the borough are manageable.
“We believe that pretty much all the services we’re currently providing, we will continue to do that at the same levels,” Jabusch said.
The borough is not planning to lay off staff this year. Two vacant positions are being cut, and positions that open up in the future will be reviewed for possible elimination.
State budget cuts will have the biggest impact on Wrangell’s jail.
The state’s operating budget is not finalized, but it is likely that funding for the Wrangell jail will drop to about two-thirds of the former amount.
“There were some reductions to our jail funding,” Jabusch said. “Even though it was a reduction, it was better than what we first had started hearing, so that’s good news.”
For the last few years, the state has provided nearly all of the jail’s funding. Next year, the borough will pull from its general fund to make up a difference of $230,650. This year, $12,142 went from the general fund to the jail. Wrangell’s total FY16 budget is less than $6 million.
Most of the jail’s budget is for staff wages, and the people who work at the jail also serve as the community’s 911 dispatchers. Jabusch said if jail funding levels keep dropping, Wrangell might have to find a different way to fund its 911 system.
Wrangell will see a small reduction from the Municipal Revenue Sharing program. That is the money the state distributes to local governments for basic services like building maintenance and snow removal. This year’s 5 percent cut will not make a huge impact, but the state is poised to make much larger cuts over the next three years.
Jabusch said the borough is trying to trim costs to prepare for that.
Finally, the borough will see a small cut to its federal funding through Secure Rural Schools. But the reduction will not be passed on to the Wrangell Public School district. The borough will draw on its $4 million SRS reserves to fund the schools at the same level as last year.
Jabusch said Wrangell is not in much debt.
“The city really is in pretty solid shape, better than a lot of communities,” Jabusch said.
There will be several public hearings before the budget is approved by the Borough Assembly.
