Spending plan is about $390,000 higher, and hiring has no price

The spending plan Patty presented Thursday is about $390,000 higher than last year, and the commission did not vote on it. She put the total near $15.5 million and said most of the increase is grants and building projects. The city's main account was $11,922,683. She said the city no longer charges a separate property tax for old debt. The plan still has a debt-payment account of $624,825.

The road-and-bridge figure was $393,328, about $14,000 lower than her earlier estimate, after the state's fuel-tax payment came in short. That was the one reduction in the briefing.

For the new budget year she listed keeping services at their current level, holding on to employees, hiring into open jobs, and continuing road, drainage, and other building work, including projects already underway and new ones. The hiring line came with no count of open jobs and no dollar figure. She said the city has benefited from state appropriations and federal earmarks and will keep seeking that money so some project costs stay outside the local budget. She called the reserve healthy and said that talk waits until October. No commissioner asked a question.

The matter is set for 5:45 p.m. Monday, October 5, at City Hall, 2200 A1A South.