Last week, the council meeting lasted six hours, starting on Tuesday and ending on Wednesday. That’s probably not going to happen this coming Tuesday (Lord willing), but if the agenda is any indication, it’s still going to be a relatively long meeting. Here’s the agenda for Tuesday night’s council meeting:

Continue reading Oct. 23 council agenda portends another protracted meeting

Did you miss the special City Council meeting on Monday where they discussed the proposed 2008 budget? Here is the meat of the official minutes from that meeting, which were released today (they’re long, so click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below to see the whole thing):

City Manager Randy Oliver provided the City Council with an overview of the 2008 Preliminary Budget. He discussed 2008 projected revenues and property tax base (EAV) growth from 2000 through what was estimated for 2007. He pointed out that out of every tax dollar, the City’s share was only 11%, with 9% going to the Park District, 10% going to the County, 59% going to the School Districts, and 11% going to other. He further discussed sales tax revenues from 2003 to 2008, which included local revenues and from the State revenues. He also discussed projected 2008 operating expenditures with 30% for the Police Department, 22% for the Fire Department, 21% for Public Works, and the remaining split between the other smaller departments. He explained the Operating Budget and the amount of increases over the last four years. He closed by discussing the General Fund – Fund Balance and the amounts of increases from 2000 to 2006.

Continue reading City Council budget session minutes released