In anticipation of a reduction in the Chapala government’s share of federal funding for municipalities during the coming year, members of the city council approved an austere spending budget for 2017 by unanimous vote.
The proposal presented by the treasury commission at the council’s December 12 session projects a total outlay of 231,130,741 pesos to run City Hall business over the next 12 months. The figure represents a modest 6.72 percent increase in spending compared to slightly more than 216 million in 2016.
According to city Treasurer Roberto Molina, higher expenditures for line items under the sections on materials and supplies, debt service and general services will be offset by increased revenue collection combined with significant cutbacks in payments for salaries and personal services. He expects to see savings of approximately five million pesos reflected from a lay-off of around 300 employees and an 80 percent decrease in fees for outside professional services.
A current cash crunch was revealed at the previous city council session when members agreed to request an advance on next year’s funding from the Jalisco Finance Ministry to help cover aguinaldo bonuses for municipal government staff and other year-end expenditures. At press time workers were still anxiously awaiting the extra holiday pay, indicating that arrangements for the deal were still pending.