Like most all local governments, the city of Clinton is trying to deal with maintaining its level of service with less revenue streams and no tax hike. It is a balancing act that seems to get more difficult with each passing year, city manager John Connet said.

When you throw in the city’s goal to revitalize properties, buildings and an entire downtown, it’s close to impossible. That, however, is the task of city staff as they enter into another budget period next week.

Connet offered a tentative budget calendar earlier this month that includes discussion on the city’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and the 2010-11 budget, and workshops to mull over both. First up is a CIP workshop to be held with City Council during a special session on Tuesday, with operational budgets expected to be submitted by departments on Thursday.

Those financial plans will be further developed, and possibly modified throughout April before a recommended budget is presented at the Council’s regular meeting in May. While the City Council has given no directives to city staff as to how that budget needs to look, the goal is standard.

“The goal going into our budget every year is to maintain a high level of service without a tax increase,” Connet remarked. “It gets tougher and tougher each year.”

With sales tax revenues going down because of the recession, and the city’s property tax revenues seeing a similar decline with industrial buildings sitting vacant, the job is made more difficult.

“We work very hard to budget in line with what our revenues will be,” the city manager said. “We do everything we can to maintain that high level of service with no tax increase.”

Compounding lightening revenue streams is what Connet called “the unknown,” which is how the state’s budget will affect Clinton.

“There is the unknown thing out there, with the financial issues the state is having to deal with,” said Connet. “How will that affect local government?”

Connet said “contingency plans” were being developed as part of the budget process should a state budget crisis arise, and the impact be felt locally. Despite the state budget, leaner times are dictating a transformation at all levels. Changing the way local governments operate is becoming the norm, local officials said.

County officials have championed the phrase “new normal.” Connet said it is a stingy, calculated evaluation, and reevaluation, process for nearly every line item. Money that has always been in one place for a specific purpose might be better served for another purpose now.

“All local governments are having to reevaluate how services are offered to citizens,” said Connet. “We evaluate every service to see if it’s still necessary. Local government is where the rubber meets the road. We need to look at all services and see where the city can provide them effectively and efficiently.”

That evaluation process begins in earnest next week at the CIP workshop, where a comprehensive long-range plan of capital projects (all having a cost or value over $10,000) will be provided and discussed. The CIP, included as a complement to the budget, was reviewed and prioritized by city staff in January and throughout February.

Among the more notable capital projects are a proposed City Hall renovation and the third phase of the city’s downtown revitalization project.

When a $6 million grand vision to overhaul City Hall and put everything under one roof — Clinton-Sampson Planning and Development and the Clinton Police Department included — was scrapped due to economic conditions last year, city staff in the fall floated an estimated $378,000 base project. That includes the expansion of the administrative wing to include a larger conference room, an additional restroom, a second entrance/exit and storage area.

The Council has already approved spending $56,334 for architectural services for the initial design costs of a scaled-down City Hall addition and renovation, which Connet has said would provide an “efficient use of space and better access for the public.”

The third phase of downtown revitalization also hit the cutting room floor amidst budget tightening, to be reevaluated this year.

The recommended budget is scheduled to be presented to Council at the beginning of May. Budget workshops will then be held on May 18 and May 26 to talk about the fiscal plan, offer suggestions or concerns, or tweak the budget further.

A public hearing on the budget is tentatively scheduled for the Council’s June 1 meeting, prior to the start of the next fiscal year on July 1.

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@myclintonnc.com.