Fiscal year ends with surplus of $2 million

Dear friends and neighbors,

I promised you in earlier editions that I would let you know about the financial state of the city as soon as the auditing firm had completed its work. I am pleased to announce it has closed the books for fiscal year 2012, resulting in a surplus of $2 million.

I’m sometimes asked how we continue doing this, and I think the answer is somewhat two-fold. Retail dollars have to continue to improve each year, and my estimates on revenue will always be very conservative. By keeping a conservative outlook on revenues, it forces me to be conservative on expenses. While the revenues continue to climb during the year, I look to department heads and employees to help me develop new ideas and ways to get the job done at a reduced rate. The end result is a surplus.

A good example of how we can improve service while decreasing costs is our fire department. In the past, the City of Homewood has operated one rescue unit to run emergency medical calls. In addition to the rescue unit running a call, an additional fire truck was sent for needed support.

The city has had one rescue unit located at Station 2 on Carr Avenue that runs calls for the entire city. In other words, if you live in Rosedale and had a medical emergency, you had to wait for the rescue unit to come from Edgewood. If you live in West Homewood and needed medical assistance, it would also come from Edgewood.

With the change, we will now have paramedics and life saving equipment on every engine at each station, resulting in a quicker response time. Rosedale will now be served medically by Station 1 on Central Avenue, and our neighbors in West Homewood will be served by Station 3 near Waldrop Stadium. By sending one vehicle, it will cut our operating costs by not having to continue to purchase rescue units and maintain them.

I could list each department and give specific examples of how the men and women of Homewood work hard each day to contribute to increased services and reduced costs. Many times, they have great ideas because they are actually the ones performing the work. My goal is to get better and better at listening and communicating with them to attain the desired outcome.

In the book Teamworks, Mary Follett said, “The best leader does not ask people to serve him, but the common end. The best leader has not followers, but men and women working with him.” I truly appreciate the opportunity to serve this city along with some of the greatest people in the world — Homewood employees. With kindest regards I remain

Sincerely,

Scott McBrayer

Mayor

City of Homewood