The decline in sales tax revenue for Shawnee through November 2009 continues to reveal a weakened local economy, but city officials said that improvement of the numbers depends largely on Shawnee’s citizens.
“We continue to stress that citizens need to Shop Shawnee,” City Manager Brian McDougal said.
“The numbers are tracking the same, just lower for the time being. It’s not cautious optimism any more, it’s reality.”
But rather than wait and hope that holiday shopping will pull the city out of the decline, department heads are scheduled to meet with the city’s interim finance director, Steve Nolen, to discuss areas that can be trimmed in those departments to make up for some of the decreases.
“We need to identify where the best cuts are,” Nolen said.
“We aren’t just flat, now we are seeing a dip. November is typically the lowest month for revenue and the holiday season is not here yet, but it’s the same news, just a little worse this month.”
Sales tax receipts currently show a $96,989 reduction under last year’s actual monthly amount, bringing the total amount received $320,092 — about 4.8 percent — under the expected budget values to-date.
“If we review the 12-month rolling average, we can now see an actual downturn and not just the flattening of the average as noticed last month,” Nolen said. “At this point, department heads will be meeting to discuss detailed budget adjustment options and preparing and presenting specific budget cuts by line item for reductions of up to possibly 10 percent.”
McDougal agreed that changes must be made to successfully address current
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The decline in sales tax revenue for Shawnee through November 2009 continues to reveal a weakened local economy, but city officials said that improvement of the numbers depends largely on Shawnee’s citizens.
“We continue to stress that citizens need to Shop Shawnee,” City Manager Brian McDougal said.
“The numbers are tracking the same, just lower for the time being. It’s not cautious optimism any more, it’s reality.”
But rather than wait and hope that holiday shopping will pull the city out of the decline, department heads are scheduled to meet with the city’s interim finance director, Steve Nolen, to discuss areas that can be trimmed in those departments to make up for some of the decreases.
“We need to identify where the best cuts are,” Nolen said.
“We aren’t just flat, now we are seeing a dip. November is typically the lowest month for revenue and the holiday season is not here yet, but it’s the same news, just a little worse this month.”
Sales tax receipts currently show a $96,989 reduction under last year’s actual monthly amount, bringing the total amount received $320,092 — about 4.8 percent — under the expected budget values to-date.
“If we review the 12-month rolling average, we can now see an actual downturn and not just the flattening of the average as noticed last month,” Nolen said. “At this point, department heads will be meeting to discuss detailed budget adjustment options and preparing and presenting specific budget cuts by line item for reductions of up to possibly 10 percent.”
McDougal agreed that changes must be made to successfully address current
