Fort Lauderdale officials are considering borrowing millions of dollars from the city’s abundant reserve fund to cover a budget shortfall caused by falling property taxes, shrinking franchise fees and low revenue citywide.

Property taxes in the city are down about 8 percent, while franchise fees, which allow utilities to operate within right-of-ways, have also fallen significantly.

But hope now lies in the city’s $85 million reserve fund that City Auditor John Herbst called the “rainy day fund,” which consists mainly of funds set aside for budgeted items that were never purchased.

“We can meet the budget shortfall by taking $10 million out of the reserve fund,” Herbst said, “and that’s OK, because the balance is too high.”

Dipping into reserve funds is nothing new. Last year, the city used $25 million from reserves, City Manager George Gretas told the Sun Sentinel in July [Click here for that story].

Reserve funds, though, are a one-time source for a one-time situation, Herbst said.

“We don’t take the money out unless we’re pretty certain we can put it back,” he said. “We could spend another $30 million as long as we have a plan for next year. We don’t, [and] we’re continuing to drop. We can’t go another year mandated not to raise taxes and reduce staff.”

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