City Of Ste. Genevieve’s Budget Workshop Process Continued This Week

Dissatisfaction on the part of some  aldermen is leading to at least one more budget work session for the Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen.

The board looked at the general fund budget last Thursday night in its eighth budget work sessions

The proposed general fund budget showed revenues of $2,615,963 — or about $1,965,000, if money from the sale of the Piva building is put elsewhere — with total anticipated expenditures of $2,176,538, some $211,000 in the red without the one-time Piva sale.

Ward 2 Alderman Bob Donovan and Ward 4 Alderman Bryant Wolfin expressed strong displeasure with the budget.

Donovan first questioned why “realistic” figures were not used. Complaints had been made at the previous work session about department heads using “worst-case” figures instead of the most likely projections.

“Every year we don’t spend it. They over do it [projections of expenditures], then they’re frugal, and they come in and it works out,” Mayor Paul Hassler replied.

“But I used the term ‘realistic numbers,’” Donovan said. “The numbers that we budget, we budget higher and we come in under that. So, why can’t we have those numbers to where we come in to what we actually spend — a realistic budget? Why do we have to have that big variation?”

“Because the budget assumes the worst,” city administrator Martin Toma said. “It assumes $3 a gallon gasoline instead of $2.50 a gallon gasoline.”

Another work session was scheduled for Monday, August 26, after the Herald went to press.