Russellville City Council passes new budget

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
The Russellville City Council unanimously passed an operating budget Monday night, three months into the new fiscal year.
City officials have been looking to pass a budget for some time, but have been deadlocked on how to do it.
After a series of split votes on whether or not to add a one-cent sales tax increase over the last couple of months, council members moved forward with a budget Monday that did not include cutting essential city services and allocated 38.33 percent of all sales tax revenue to the city school system.
The council used the base format of a budget presented last month by Councilman David Grissom.
Mayor Troy Oliver and city officials adjusted that budget, which was adopted Monday.
To make the budget work, $200,000 was moved from the street maintenance fund and a $250,000 CD the city had set aside for emergency use were used.
A 2.5 percent increase in projected sales tax revenue was used to determine the amount of revenue expected.
Oliver said October’s numbers lead him to believe that sales tax forecasts are looking favorable.
Councilman Jeff Masterson said the new budget is a tight one, but he was happy the school system would receive the portion of tax revenue they had been promised.
Grissom said the past few months have been trying as council members looked for the best way to help the city, its employees and the school system.