City approval on spending is delayed

Published 11:27 am Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Vicksburg’s fiscal 2013 budget should be approved Monday, Mayor Paul Winfield said.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen was expected to approve the budget Tuesday, but Winfield is in Charlotte, N.C., as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

The city board and the Warren County Board of Supervisors are required by state law to pass budgets by Sept. 15 for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Supervisors also are expected to approve the county’s fiscal 2013 budget on Monday.

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Winfield said after a Friday afternoon board meeting he expected to have the budget approved sometime this week, but Tuesday afternoon he changed the date to Monday, when the board has a regularly scheduled meeting.

The board on Thursday held a public hearing on the city’s 2013 $28.89 million budget, which included no millage increases, layoffs or employee pay increases and a projected $574 fund balance.

One budget issue that has not been addressed is the city’s contribution to NRoute, which had requested $264,063 from the city for fiscal 2013 — $129,063 more than the $135,000 the city has given the transit system since Winfield took office. He said he wanted to take a closer look at NRoute before deciding how much to give it.

The board on Friday approved 127 amendments to the 2012 budget, increasing it by $1.27 million, to $30.06 million, with a $226,078 fund balance. The amended budget is about $1.17 million more than the fiscal 2013 budget.