The recession has officially made its way to Charleston city government, creating a $300,000 shortfall for the budget year – something the city is not accustomed to experiencing.

Charleston Comptroller Heather Kuykendall said the state of the Illinois economy is to blame, with deficiencies in income tax, motor fuel tax and utility tax funds.

“Our revenues aren’t going to be what they thought they were going to be,” Kuykendall said. “We are prepared to handle this shortfall.”

She said the city is not expected to finish the budget year, which ends in April, with a deficit.

Because the recession affected the general economy last year, Kuykendall said the city was able to prepare for a tight financial year and reduce spending. The city cut spending to various departments and delayed infrastructure projects.

Kuykendall said the city does not expect to cut personnel to shore up the shortfall. Major infrastructure projects will still be delayed, she said.

“Citizens will be seeing just as much progress as they always have been,” she said. “It will just be in different areas.”

City Manager Scott Smith said he and Kuykendall are examining financial reports in an attempt to forecast the rest of the fiscal year.

He said Curt Buescher, public works director, is also reviewing budget reports to see what possible spending cuts can be made. A decision on those cuts is expected in a few weeks, Smith said.

“When you have to make significant cuts or reductions at the end of fiscal year, it’s really difficult because you can’t take back what you’ve already spent or incurred,” Smith said.

Because the issue with shortfall is on the state level, he said many municipalities across Illinois are experiencing similar shortfalls.

According to the National League of Cities, 83 percent of cities nationwide have cut expenses and services because of the recession and 80 percent anticipate more cuts for the coming fiscal year.

“Municipalities are typically a little behind when these recessions occur because of the delayed funding from shared revenues or taxes,” Smith said. “In many cases, the deep drop in markets and economy are just now starting to severely affect municipal operations.”

Kuykendall said the recession was worse than she anticipated. However, she said the shortfall is not cause for alarm.

“If we hadn’t prepared so well, we probably would be extremely alarmed,” Kuykendall said.

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7942 or sdibenedetto@eiu.edu.