City council adopts '05 budget

By Staff
Jason Houston FCT Managing Editor
The city of Russellville has a new budget, and like most budgets, it took hard work to get it finished and didn't please everyone.
The city council approved the $6.2 million budget at Monday night's meeting. The budget includes just $52,638 in unappropriated revenue.
Councilman Burns "Buckshot" Saint said he regretted that the budget did not include a raise for city employees.
Saint said Officer Vaughn Ivie had been in charge of enforcing town ordinances regarding junk cars and excessive litter, but due to Ivie's recent promotion, no officer is currently doing that job.
Mayor Johnny Brown said keeping the town clean is a group effort.
Brown said the city needs help from the people to keep the area clean. He asked citizens to make an effort not to litter and to keep their homes and property clean.
Council members have said at past meetings that they hope increased revenue from the new Wal-Mart Supercenter would help the city's budget outlook in the future.
In other business, the council approved a fee increase for police accident and incident reports and approved a "Rules of Conduct" list for the Police Department. Hargett said the rules are a comprehensive guide to employee conduct.
The council also approved a declaration of depository for Police Explorer Program funds at Valley State Bank. The explorer program, began recently by the department, is an opportunity for young people to learn more about the police department and gives the department a chance to recruit potential future employees.
In other business, the council: