The Cortez City Council unanimously approved a budget of $25.8 million to fund municipal operations in 2010.
The 2010 Cortez city budget is a reduction of about $55,000 from the 2009 revised budget of $25.88 million, which
councilors also approved Tuesday. City Manager Jay Harrington said the slight decline mainly is a reflection of tougher
economic times.
“We're managing expenses and anticipating our revenue numbers to stay flat," Harrington said. “(City) government is not
giving at the same rates it did in the past."
A “salary hold" is in place in 2010 for Cortez employees, Harrington said.
The city is not considering furlough days for employees. However, councilors will consider scaling back jobs when
vacancies come up in 2010, Harrington said. Cortez has approximately 130 full-time employees.
City councilors passed the 2010 budget without input or discussion from the audience during a public hearing. The
budget includes about $11.3 million in general-fund expenditures, a decrease of nearly $500,000 from last year.
An estimated $9.1 million of the general fund will come from city sales-tax revenue, said Kathi Moss, the city's
finance director. That number is steady to the 2009 sales-tax amount. Cortez's sales tax is about 4 cents per dollar.
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