City proposes budget $1.3 million less than last year

City officials plan to cut an additional $1.3 million from their annual budget to help Mountain Home maintain essential services and repairs to its infrastructure, according to its recently released budget proposal.

The city expects to spend just under $18 million, down from the $19.2 million the previous year and the $21.3 million it budgeted the year before.

Scheduled to take effect Oct. 1, the fiscal year 2010 plan eliminates most discretionary spending, including a number of capital improvement projects, without having to cut the city's workforce.

"What we're expecting is that the 2010 budget to be tough, but our next budget will be far worse... until we see where the economy is going," said Mayor Tom Rist. While some economists expect the U.S. economy to begin to recover within the next six months, Rist remained cautious and built a "scraping of the bones" budget in case the recovery takes longer.

Pay raises for all city employees were also eliminated in the proposed budget, said City Treasurer Paula Szafranski.

"We're not in great shape, and I can't say that we're going to be able to do all the programs and improvements that we wanted, but we are maintaining," he added. "There are a number of capital improvement programs that are on (the budget) that will not be purchased unless there is money to purchase them."

See the Mountain Home News for the complete story.