Council Asks City Staff to Cut $600K from Proposed Budget

By Kristina Pritchett

For the next budget conversation, city staff is being asked to cut $600,000 from the current proposed budget of the city’s expenditures and avoid a deficit in the future.

Originally, Mayor Pro-Tem Paul Wyatt said he would like to see what “wiggle room” staff had in each of their budgets. When Acting City Manager Mike Killebrew asked for a specific number, Mayor Debra Lewis said she would like to see $600,000 cut.

“We aren’t in a position yet to say what to cut, all we can do is rely on [staff] and what they can do better and have them give us their best input,” Wyatt said. “If they don’t think there’s any room to cut without having a huge impact, we’ll have to deal with it.”

Currently, the proposed budgets for the general fund are $34.1 million for fiscal year 2018 and $35 million for fiscal year 2019.

At the May 23 budget workshop, changes were made which totaled $54,000 in savings. Council agreed to cut the State of the City Sponsorship funding of $25,000, Other Community Activities for $5,000 and the Federal Legislative Advocate funding for $24,000.

Previously, Council asked staff to return with a detailed report regarding staff time and metrics for city events. The report was not provided during the June 6 meeting.

Council will discuss the budget during the June 20 meeting.

The city’s Financial Review Committee could discuss the budget at its upcoming June 13 meeting. The agenda was not made available by press time.