The Board of Mayor and Aldermen presented a $35.46 million fiscal 2019 operating budget to the public Thursday, but Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said that number will be cut by almost $500,000 by the time it is approved Sept. 14.

The board has until Sept. 15 to approve the budget, under state law.

“We’re still going to have to trim $473,000,” he said. “The good news is, we know where it is.”

The budget includes the employee pay raise approved by the board in July, and keeps the city millage 35.88 mills.

It also includes $550,000 for the Vicksburg Convention Center. The board in 2017 removed the 2 percent hotel tax that provided revenue for the convention center and agreed to absorb the center’s operation costs after the special 2 percent tax for the sports complex passed.

The largest share of the budget, $17.58 million, goes for public safety, with $6.87 million going for the fire department, $3.19 million for ambulance service and $6.05 million for police. The city’s traffic department, which handles traffic signals, signs and other safety measures, gets $573,845.

The budget for administration, which includes the mayor’s office, city court, human resources and VTV totals $9.6 million. Public works’ total budget is $5.08 million, while recreation is $2.47 million.

According to the budget presentation by city director of administration Doug Whittington, the budget projects $9.49 million in property taxes, which makes up 27 percent of the city’s revenue, and $7.95 million in sales taxes, which comprises 22.7 percent of the city’s revenue.

The property tax revenue is less than the $9.56 million received in fiscal 2018; the sales tax revenue is projected to be the same as 2018.

Gaming tax revenue is projected at $4.89 million, which less than the $5.38 million in 2018. Other revenue sources include permits, fees, court fines and interest, $4.43 million, and $2.49 million from state and county funds and $5.73 million in bonds and federal grants.

Whittington said gaming tax revenue has been declining over the past seven years. Flaggs said the city “projects a decline in gaming revenues so we won’t have to have to cut the budget because the (gaming) revenue didn’t come in like projected.”