news-record.com

SEDALIA -- Just one day before the new fiscal year, the Sedalia Town Council approved the town's budget for the 2008-09 year.

In the June council meeting, the town's accountant, Bobby Massey, presented a rough draft of the town's budget.

Massey and Valerie Mack, the town finance officer, then worked to complete the budget, which was approved unanimously during the meeting last week.

"We looked through our expenditures and our future projects and we took all of that into consideration," Mack said.

The town's total budget of expenditures and revenue is $171,560 each. Though the town will pay an increase for some services, that cost will not be passed on to the residents.

"We're doing a good job of protecting the town's funds," Mack said.

The property tax will remain at 20 cents per $100 of the assessed property value. The budget is a tight one, but Mack and Massey both said that all the expenditures are necessities.

"There is no fluff, in my opinion," Massey said.

During his presentation, Massey pointed out that there won't be any major increases in the town's expenditures other than the money needed to finish paying for the expenses the town has incurred in its effort to receive state Powell Bill funds.

The budget sets aside $18,000 to fulfill the state's requirements for the Powell Bill.

The town expects to spend $2,700 of those funds on a survey of town roads. Massey advised the town to keep the remaining $15,300 in its budget.

Contact Tiffany S. Jones at 449-4731 or tiffany.jones@news-record.com