STAFF WRITER

djones@gulfcoastnewspapers.com

On Monday, the Gulf Shores City Council passed a resolution to adopt the 2011 budget. Council members voted unanimously on the budget that shows estimated revenues of $27 million and total general fund expenses at $25.6 million.

Officials have struggled with projecting revenues based on the unexpected response from tourism due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill crisis, but elected officials continue to work with BP on a downfall guarantee.

“I have had a follow up meeting with BP regarding our proposal, asking them to guarantee a certain revenue stream next year so that we can work with knowledge that we’ve got guaranteed money coming in,” Mayor Robert Craft said.

Craft said he is expecting a letter from BP within the next couple of days, verifying the concept that would take actual revenue from the first quarter of 2010 and the second, third and fourth quarters of 2009, and guarantee the city that amount of revenue plus the addition of the GDP growth factor.

“Once we have all of that defined and have a letter committing to that, it will give us some comfort level for the unknown revenue for next year, and we will be able to make commitments for any type of contractual obligations and budgetary changes with a good degree of confidence,” Craft said.

Councilman Jason Dyken, who heads the city’s finance committee, said the safety net that Mayor Craft referred to was a very important part of planning the 2011 budget.

“With that safety net in place, it should get us very close to the revenue figure we are projecting for 2011.”

Dyken said in planning the 2011 budget, the finance committee broke down city expenditures into three main categories — fixed expenses, human resource expenditures, and capital investment.

“We feel really comfortable that we have a good handle on the expense side of the budget,” Dyken said. “That is the side that, as a city government, we are charged with controlling and is what our city administrator and department heads are all in tune with.”

Dyken said that if revenues are not in line with what the projections say or with what BP promises, the city has the ability to adapt accordingly.

“I promise that our finance committee and our finance department is on top of this, looking at it very closely, and will adapt if we see the need to.”