For the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2010, which ended Sept. 30, the City of Rio Rancho is behind projected estimates for tax revenue by $200,000.

The city collected $10.6 million, but budgeted for $10.8 million.

“It’s the economy,” City Manager James Jimenez said. “It’s hard to say (when it will rebound), but I know there are a lot of good things going on in the community. There’s construction with Hewlett-Packard, CNM, UNM, two hospitals, Petroglyph X-Ray Associates and CVS Pharmacy. There are a lot of good things going on, but housing construction is weak and it may be weak for a good period of time.” Gross receipts taxes lag the budget by 3.7 percent, according to a memo from the city. The city collected $5.9 million in taxes, but had budgeted for $6.2 million.

The city also missed estimates for franchise fee revenue, having collected $821,506, but projecting to collect $1.04 million.

However, the city collected more than it anticipated in property tax and other revenues. Overall, the city is 2.1 percent off its budget.

For the first quarter, property tax revenue exceeded estimates by 46 percent. The city collected $352,765, having anticipated collecting $241,537.

Other revenues exceeded expectations by 3.4 percent. The city anticipated collecting $3.38 million but collected $3.49 million.

While the city lags in revenue collection, officials have been cautious with spending. For the first quarter, expenditures were 7.7 percent under budget.

The city spent $11.2 million, but projected spending $12.1 million. The city’s deficit is $566,323 rather than the projected $1.28 million.

Jimenez explained some of the city’s fiscal prudence.

“As job positions become vacant, we will take a hard look at it and see if it’s a critical need or if it needs to be delayed for a period of time,” he said. “We’re communicating regularly with departments that these are tough economic times and to be prudent with expenditures in the budget.”

The city spent $8.05 million on personnel services and $3.03 million on materials and services. The city budgeted to spend $8.44 million and $3.55 million on those services, respectively. The city didn’t spend any money on capital outlay projects, saving $21,624. The city transferred $89,288 from the general fund to other funds.