The City of Albany has a new budget in place for the 2017-18 fiscal year following action taken at a brief special meeting last Wednesday, June 14. All members were on hand for the budget’s second reading.

The council was first presented with the document to review at the council’s May meeting and held first reading at its regular meeting on June 6.

The total budget for revenues and expenditures project for the upcoming year is $4,021,466, very close to the amount of the 2016-17 year.

While reviewing the new budget earlier this month, Mayor Nicky Smith noted there was a small pay increase for city employees, and also noted a change this year is the city contributing an extra $5,000–up to now $15,000 this year-toward parks and recreation to help in operating expenses and maintenance at the park.

The mayor, in reviewing the water and sewer departments, which make up the bulk of the overall budget, noted the high cost of operations, saying the electric costs for the water system is around $535,000 annually and the cost of chemicals to treat water this current year was some $143,000, along with other associated costs.

At last week’s special meeting for second reading, the motion to adopt the budget was made by councilman Leland Hicks, seconded by councilman Frankie Stockton and passed by unanimous vote.

A brief breakdown of the budget shows the total general fund account is $1,062,000, with total other funds, including water and sewer, carryover, Municipal Aid and SRO grant funds at $2,959,466 for the grand total of $4,021,066.00.

The general fund is expected to raise approximately $135,000 in property taxes, with total expenses in general government at $256,783.00.

Budget amount by departments from the general fund include $550,764, police department; $188,300, fire department; and $257,812, street department.

The waste water utilities budget is listed at $360,069 and water department at 2,412,738 for a combined water and sewer budget of some $2,772,807.00, well over half of the total city budget.

The fiscal year budget runs from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018.

A full text of the city budget is available for inspection at Albany City Hall during normal business hours and a budget summary is being published this week.