As required by state statute, Russellville Mayor Gene Zick submitted his 2009-2010 budget message on May 12 at a special called meeting of the city council.

A first reading of the complete budget is scheduled to be held at tonight’s regularly scheduled city council meeting.

Zick said a goal has been set to have a budget that is “conservative yet attainable” and will provide the necessary services that are expected by the citizens, but also one that utilizes the resources the city already has.

Reductions have been proposed within the parks & recreation, police and street departments. There will also be some restructuring involving redistribution of duties, which will cut costs. There will be no employee raises for the upcoming fiscal year.

Among the worries Zick has includes the decreased occupational tax revenue that has been caused by the recent downfall of the economy.

“There is a big question mark on that revenue,” said Zick. Property taxes are not increased and are level. Another area the city is paying close attention too is the insurance tax that was expected to have generated a lot more in 2008-2009 than it actually has.

Back in March of 2008, the city of Russellville imposed the tax on all insurance companies which do business within the city. The tax is then tacked on to insurers policies. This was supposed to have generated $770,000, less than half of that was received. In the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the city has budgeted $475,000 to make sure there isn’t a shortfall in that area.

Zick said he feels like it may be more after a year has lapsed believing the missed mark is simply a cycle issue.

Each department has been reviewed several times and the assigned council persons were given the opportunity to be involved early on in the budget process and preparation, said Zick in his message.

“I think the process went very smoothly,” said Zick.

Debt payments for the 2009-2010 fiscal year are as follows:

1997 Carpenter Center bond payment $134,820

2004 Carpenter Center bond payment $67,535

2006 Carpenter Center bond payment $23,280

2005 street backhoe payment $1,300

2006 service center payment $25,114

2007 police vehicle payment $8,581

2006 general fund projects payment $44,858

2008 Pierce Fire Truck payment $51,155

2008 old hospital payment $156,000

2009 Herndon Road payment $29,179

2009 general fund projects payment $147,000

The cost of retirement benefits are $518,212 and severely limited funds available for all other needs. There is no capital outlay in the 2009-2010 budget. Zick said he would like to see how the first three months of the fiscal year go before beginning any other capital projects.

Municipal Road Aid fund is proposed to be $126,167. The deGraffenried budget is estimated to be $1,175,343 with some $25,882 in appropriations projected for the coming period.

Revenues for the water and sewer operations are estimated at $4,677,876 (including Rockwell).

“We are taking a very conservative approach on these revenues because we believe conservation on the part of the public will continue to impact the usage. Water losses remain a concern due to the age of the system and upgrades,” said Zick.

Water and sewer rates were not increased in the 2009-2010 budget.

There are also debt payments in water sewer that include:

1991 USDA 68/80 bond payment

1998 sewer bond payment $427,160

1998 Lewisburg Bank loan payment $5,338

2006 water meter lease payment $87,589

2006 water meter payment $44,858

2006 water/sewer project payment $51,580

1992 KIA Spa Lake loan payment $98,190

2007 Manshart payment $51,943

“We are doing everything we can to keep spending at a minimal and to continue to provide services in which the citizens are accustom to,” said Zick. “It is something we have worked very hard to accomplish, but ultimately we will have to wait to see how the economy moves throughout the year.”