As a result of a large unassigned fund balance, Sachse city staff provided a list of potential projects the money could be spent on.  

Councilmembers received a presentation on the projects during the Monday, Nov 14, regular meeting. 

Finance Director David Baldwin said that the city typically reserves around 90 days of operating expenses in its unassigned fund balance which translates into a 25%-35% surplus. He estimated that the city will have around a 64% surplus with around $7.1 million above the 90 days of operating expenses threshold.

Assistant City Manager Lauren Rose said that spending some of the surplus funds on needed projects would be complementary to the ongoing 2021 bond capital improvements to the city.

“We feel that this gives us a fairly unique opportunity to address some sorely needed facility issues in addition to addressing roads and other capital projects,” Rose said.

Director of Capital Improvement Projects and Public Works Corey Nesbit said the city identified four projects on which to spend funds: a $2.6 million contribution for Woodbridge Parkway improvements, $1.7 million for Heritage Park, $800,000 for a retaining wall at Hudson Crossing and $6 million for a new Public Works and Parks and Recreation facility. Of the $6 million for the facility, only $2 million will come from the general fund with $4 million in funding from the utility fund.

“We have that facility which really is not equipped to do what we need it to do relative to a maintenance facility,” said City Manager Gina Nash. “We have trouble storing what we need to store there; it really wasn’t built for that. We need something that can cover our various equipment and materials that we need in our parks department.”

For the full story, see the Nov. 24 issue of The Sachse News.