GILLETTE, Wyo. — The City of Gillette will spend more than expected this year with the city council passing a $2.6 million budget amendment on Tuesday.
The amendment was passed during the council’s regular meeting on June 21.
It constitutes a cleanup effort by the city finance department to ensure its finances are in order for the current year before the council approves the budget for the next fiscal year, according to City Administrator Hyun Kim.
He said that the amendment will be used to fund previously unaccounted for, last-minute, or previously postponed budget expenses.
It’s also a way for the city to make sure none of its departments are going to spend more than previously budgeted, which would be against the law, and provides additional funding for any department at risk of going over before the end of the current fiscal year, per City Finance Director Michelle Henderson.
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In this amendment, the city plans on spending an additional $525,000 from its water fund for a new hydro excavation truck, Kim said.
Additionally, the amendment includes spending $750,000 in conjunction with grant funds to pay for two new parking lots at the Energy Capital Sports Complex, Henderson said, as well as fund a $411,000 commitment to the Cam-Plex depreciation fund that has been kicked down the road for several budget cycles.
The city will also kick some more funding to the City Parks Division which is currently contending with higher than anticipated water expenses driven up by higher-than-average temperatures, per Henderson, as well as cover costs associated with paying for an interim city attorney prior to the hiring of current City Attorney Sean Brown.
The rest of the amendment will cover more than a dozen other departmental expenses including traffic signal refitments and replacements and a $20,000 tactical drone, among other items.
