- May 2, 2024
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LAKEWOOD RANCH — Supervisors on Lakewood Ranch’s Inter-District Authority Board adopted a 2015-16 fiscal year budget with a 9.7% increase over the current budget. The increase is mostly due to funding for software upgrades and staffing increases.
Supervisors adopted their $3.69 million operations-and-maintenance budget July 25, for the IDA, which oversees issues common to Lakewood Ranch’s community development districts. The entity acts as a pass-through for costs, because it does not have the ability to generate revenue on its own. CDDs 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 will incorporate the IDA’s budget into their own when they adopt their budgets Aug. 20.
Financial Director Steve Zielinski said primary cost increases are associated with the conversion of Town Hall’s software system, Jenark, to another program/provider.
“Jenark is a proprietary system,” Zielinski said. “We’re going with an open-ended product that’s going to give us the ability to make in-house changes.”
The change will enhance efficiency, sustainability and in-house controls Town Hall’s financial and property management department.
Installation of the new software will take about six months, and the IDA is budgeting now for the system to go into use during fiscal year 2016-17.
The IDA budge also accounts for the addition of two new positions: a purchasing manager and utilities technician.
“It’s a prudent, solid budget,” Zielinksi said. “Overall, I think it was a job well done, considering the requests for additional positions and the software conversion.”