The city of Adairville had the first reading of its 2010-11 budget at Monday’s regularly scheduled city council meeting.

For the upcoming year, the city is expected to operate with a deficit.

The total estimated revenue for the next fiscal year is $828,074. Expenditures are estimated at just over $1.14 million.

Adairville has nearly $1.9 million in carried over unspent funds which will offset the deficit.

“(The $1.9 million) is all of the assets, some of which can’t be spent like the cemetery perpetual care money,” Adairville mayor Jim Wilkerson said.

Wilkerson said several factors caused the city to lose about $100,000 of revenue from last year’s budget.

“There was some things that caused that to go down,” Wilkerson said. “The hosiery mill closing lost us some tax revenue. That was the same thing with the employees lost in the closing of the IGA.”

One of the biggest areas of lost revenue is property taxes.

Largely because of homestead exemptions for senior citizens, Adairville will be getting only $57,500 in property taxes this year – down from about $76,000 a year ago.

The appropriations for the upcoming year break down like this: general government $290,734, police $94,706, fire $40,100, park $25,536, streets $60,500, economic development $15,500 and water & sewer $614,924.

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Also a Monday’s meeting, Mayor Wilkerson reported that nearly all of the city’s delinquent property taxes have now been paid.

He said that there are only about individuals left that owe the town property tax.

“It’s an awesome thing that we don’t have any more than that,” Wilkerson said. “Two or three months ago, we voted to get the letters out and start trying to collect some of these back taxes.”

Wilkerson said that most of the taxes were paid simply by calling the citizens up and telling them to pay before the city turned the bills over to the city attorney for collection.

“I respect them enough, that I have called them to try and get them to pay before we turned the bills over, because they would have had penalties and court costs added to the bills,” Wilkerson said. “That’s good information for any taxpayer to know.”

In other news:

• The council praised the work of the area fire departments in helping the people of south Logan County during the recent flooding.

• The council voted to have the mayor buy a bicycle rack to be installed in two parking spaces in front of The Hideaway, a new business on the town square that caters to young people.

• The council voted to spend $250 for a half page advertisement for the city in the upcoming Guide to Logan County.

• The city will be pursuing another Safe Route To Schools grant in the future.

• The city donated $300 to the South Logan/Adairville Chamber of Commerce to help with the costs associated with the annual Strawberry Festival dignitary luncheon.

• Wilkerson was once again chosen as the city’s representative on the board for the Logan-Todd Regional Water Commission.

• The city approved its annual $350 donation to the Barren River Area Development District for Community Aging Services.