CHEYENNE, Wyo. — On Monday, May 8, the City Council reviewed proposed 2024 budgets for the Municipal Court, City Clerk and City Treasurer’s department.
The budget for the Mayor’s Office was also scheduled for the May 8 session, but a time conflict prevented Mayor Patrick Collins from attending the meeting. The office budget was presented on Thursday, May 11 instead.
Municipal Court
Municipal Court hears cases involving violations of the City of Cheyenne Municipal Code. The court consists of two full-time judges and one part-time judge. The court’s proposed budget is $871,088, a 6.7% increase from fiscal year 2023. The changes are due to the following:
- Hiring a full-time Municipal Court Clerk with an annual salary of $37,000, plus benefits.
- The telecommunications line item increased $700, and the light, fuel and power line item increased $1,600 as a result of actual costs during previous fiscal years.
- Maintenance expenses increased $2,800 due to higher building maintenance service fees.
- The copier expenses line item decreased $1,780 as a result of the City purchasing the division’s copier machine though one-time funding in a capital equipment line item instead of leasing.
City’s Clerk Office
The City’s Clerk Office is responsible for city records, licensing and permitting. The office also oversees city-owned property files and affiliated database management, provides municipal elections assistance and serves as clerk to several city boards and commissions. The City Clerk Division’s proposed budget is $828,743, a less than 1% decrease from fiscal year 2023. The changes are due to the following:
- A decrease in professional expenses by $14,900 as a result of allocating annual website fees to the Board of Public Utilities and Cheyenne Police Department.
- A decrease in the telecommunications line item by $140 to more accurately reflect actual costs based on the previous fiscal year’s expenses.
- A decrease in copier expenses by $980 as a result of the city purchasing the division’s copier machine though one-time funding in a capital equipment line item instead of leasing.
City Treasurer
The City Treasurer’s department includes Finance, Purchasing and Housing and Community divisions. The department is responsible for all accounting functions, financial reporting, coordination of external audit, payment processing, revenue collection, cash management and investment of city funds. Staff also writes and manages city grants and processes reimbursement requests. The city treasurer is responsible for developing and monitoring the city’s operating budget and Capital Improvement Plan. The proposed budget is $1,054,140, a 24% increase from fiscal year 2023. The changes are due to the following:
- An increase of $3,000, plus benefits, to the overtime budget. This will be used to pay for non-exempt staff working overtime during the financial software conversion to OpenGov starting in September.
- A increase in the professional development budget by $8,000 to pay for required yearly continued professional education credits for the division’s three Certified Public Accountants in order to maintain their licensure, as well as to pay for additional training needs for the other seven division staff members.
- An increase in dues and subscription expenses by $622 for costs associated with the divisions’ DocuSign subscription and to pay for the new senior accountant’s CPA license.
- An increase in printing expenses by $300 due to inflationary costs for envelopes and letter head.
- A $2,400 transfer from the maintenance budget for the copier expenses.
