Aldermen press finance staff on water and sewer line items; city aims for June 17 reading on balanced budget

Pacific — During a focused budget discussion June 3 aldermen raised technical questions about water and sewer revenues and expenditures and asked staff to verify coded line items; the mayor and staff said they will work to present a balanced budget for a June 17 reading.

Aldermen questioned several specific spreadsheet lines: a line listed as “water meter department INT” (line 33), an insurance coding line (23,505), meter replacement and maintenance amounts (noting a $160,000 entry with a supporting note that said $140,000), postage and sales tax projections, and transfers/pilot amounts that differ from prior years. On the sewer side aldermen flagged sewer collections projected at $95,400 as low relative to current-year trends and noted an item for prison sewer maintenance without a revenue entry.

Board members asked staff to confirm whether some numbers had been double‑keyed or miscoded. Several items were identified as needing department head follow‑up (public works questions about meters and maintenance; finance questions about insurance coding and transfers). Mayor (name not specified) said staff will work to get numbers clarified and “get it balanced” so the board can have a reading for approval at the June 17 meeting. He asked staff to prepare an ordinance reading for that meeting.

On pay and benefits, aldermen discussed the city administrator salary coding and hours. Staff had entered a worst‑case annual salary of $150,000 but aldermen noted the city will not have a full year and suggested using 1,560 hours for a partial‑year estimate (equivalent to 75% of a full work year) to reflect a shorter service period.

No final budget adoption occurred at the June 3 meeting. The board directed staff to reconcile the flagged line items, correct coding errors, and return with a balanced budget for reading at the June 17 meeting; the mayor indicated a special meeting for the reading may be required.