FAQ's
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the General Fund?
The City's General Fund supports police, fire, administration, parks and recreation programs, library services, short- and long-range planning, code enforcement, emergency preparedness and more – basically every service you can think of when you think of communitywide benefit.
Revenues for the General Fund typically increase by 3% each year, and the City’s expenses by around 6%.
Currently the deficit to the general fund is about 2 million dollars.
Why is this charge on my Water & Light bill if it's going to the City?
McMinnville Water & Light, while technically a department of the City, is independently governed by a commission appointed by the Mayor. While you may not have noticed additional charges on your bill in the past, they have always collected fees on behalf of the City as our "billing agent." These fees help support wastewater and sewer operations, infrastructure, and capital improvements. All of which the City of McMinnville provides.
Why can’t we just "trim the fat" in the budget?
We're continually looking for efficiencies, but it's not enough to close the gap. Some savings can be achieved by combining, eliminating, or leaving positions unfilled, but doing so only temporarily fixes the problem. To maintain the current levels of service, especially in public safety, additional revenues must be generated to pay for the largest expenditure – personnel.
What services would be lost if we don't increase revenue?
It’s hard to predict exactly what services may be lost for the FY24 budget cycle because of multiple competing unknowns. Currently, the City is exploring a fire services consolidation effort that, if passes, will provide the opportunity for City Council to review our levying power. The fire district consolidation will appear on your May 2023 ballots, and the results, whatever they may be, will help the City more clearly plan for the future. For more information on how the City of McMinnville is planning for our fire and emergency services needs, please visit our project information page here.
What about the funds from the American Rescue Plan Act?
McMinnville recieved nearly 8$ million as part of the American Rescue Plan Act passed by Congress in March of 2021 to combat the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2021, City Council approved 28 projects with spending authority.
The approved FY2022-23 budget did not include the adoption of a city services charge, but did require the use of one-time funding sources like ARPA to help backfill the deficit. However, at the June 28, 2022, Council meeting, Resolution 2022-51 passed, overturning the decision to use $1.8 million of ARPA that originally was needed to support general services.
ARPA funds will continue to be allocated towards projects that fall into one of three categories: Innovative High-Impact Projects, Immediate-Impact Community Projects, and Internal Efficiency & Effectiveness Projects.
To read more about how the City plans to utilize ARPA visit our page here.
