Politics & Government

Brookfield Eyes $2.6 Million Savings in 2013 Borrowing

Find out what projects were cheaper, deferred or served with different funding to save the city this nice chunk of change.

Denise Konkol, Patch StaffVerified Patch Staff Badge
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Work on the Brookfield Library parking lot has been pushed back to 2014, just one move among many that is allowing the city to borrow $2.6 million less than anticipated for capital projects in 2013.

Total savings — from $6.7 million to $4.1 million —  resulted from a combination of deferring some projects, using leftover funds from previous projects and actual costs coming in for less than budgeted, said Director of Finance Robert Scott. 

Scott laid out the circumstances for the Finance Committee on Tuesday, and indicated these key areas as saving the city from borrowing dollars, at least for the coming year:

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  • The library parking lot project will be deferred as extending the scope of the project requires a zoning modification, and conflicts in using the Brookfield Central High School lot will delay the project to 2014.

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  • The Police and Fire Department earned a $200,000 grant from FEMA toward replacement of portable radio equipment. Replacement costs had been in the budget. 
  • Borrowing for video systems mounted in police squad cars has been removed. The department has determined that a newer technology that would allow cameras to be worn by officers would be a better option. The actual equipment is a small portion of the cost of this solution, with the majority of the costs being contracted services for consulting and for data storage and these costs are not appropriate to finance with debt, according to Scott. 
  • Changes in scheduling and design of the Burleigh and Brookfield Road projects have led to deferral of costs to 2014.

    • The council will vote on the 2013 promissory note sale to cover the $4.1 million on May 21 in order to have funds available for the construction season.

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