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Cochran council adopts FY2023/24 budget, agrees to revisit pay and three departments
Summary
The Cochran City Council approved the FY2023/24 budget on June 13, 2023, voting 4–yes, 1–no and one member recorded as not voting; council attached an amendment to revisit Public Works, the Fire Department and Administration at its July 11 meeting.
The Cochran City Council approved the city’s FY2023/24 budget at its June 13, 2023 regular meeting, voting to adopt the spending plan while directing a review of several departmental pay and staffing items at its next meeting.
During a public hearing opened at 7:10 p.m., resident Alan Chastain thanked the council for preparing a balanced budget and urged keeping overall spending consistent with the prior year given current economic conditions. "With the economic situation, I suggest the Council needs to keep the budget the same as last year," Chastain said during public comment.
Councilmembers then considered the budget line by line, including payments to several outside agencies. The minutes record the following outside-agency amounts: Airport — $25,100 plus $3,596 for liability on a T-hangar (total $28,696); Chamber of Commerce — $25,500; Industrial Development Authority (IDA) — $51,700; Library — $42,650; Recreation Department — $80,000. The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) was discussed with differing figures recorded in the minutes (the record refers both to $54,670 and to $32,000 during debate); the minutes also note a mayoral tie-breaking vote during that DDA discussion.
Councilmember Gary Ates moved to approve the FY2023/24 budget with an amendment to revisit Public Works, the Fire Department and Administration at the July 11, 2023 council meeting; Councilmember Jimmy Jones seconded. The motion carried with four recorded yes votes (Ates, Jones, Lemmon, Anderson), one recorded no vote (Councilmember Carla Coley) and one member recorded as not voting (Councilmember Rufus Veal).
The council’s amendment does not change the adopted budget totals in the minutes; it directs council review of pay and related matters for Public Works, the Fire Department and Administration at the July 11 meeting. The minutes do not record further detail on specific pay adjustments or the ultimate DDA allocation; the transcript record for the DDA discussion contains differing numbers and is ambiguous on the final line-item allocation.
Next step: the council’s amendment schedules a follow-up review at the July 11 meeting. The adopted FY2023/24 budget was entered into the record at the June 13 meeting and will govern city spending unless subsequently amended by the council.
