City Of Ste. Genevieve’s 2020 Budget Passes On 4-3 Vote

By a 4-3 vote, the Ste. Genevieve Board of Aldermen passed a Fiscal Year 2020 city budget at last Thursday’s board meeting.

The passage ended months of discussion, debate and disagreement on the spending package.

One of the four “yes” votes was Ward 4 Alderman Joe Prince, who stipulated that he was only voting “yes, with the agreement that we’re still going to be working on it.”

Ward 2 Alderman Bob Donovan, Ward 3 Alderman Jimmie Jones and Ward 4 Alderman Bryant Wolfin voted against the budget.

Prince joined Ward 1 Alderwoman Susie Johnson, Ward 2 Alderman Michael “Buck” Jokerst and Ward 3 Alderman Mike Raney in voting for it.

Ward 1 Alderman Gary Smith, who had voted in favor of the budget on the first reading on September 12, was absent.

The budget showed general fund revenue of $2,622,463, not counting the $840,000 estimated emergency fund and $233,512 in reserve certificates of deposit (CDs), with total expenditures of $2,151,927.

Included in the revenue this year, however, is $650,000 from the sale of assets with the Piva Building being sold to the window manufacturing firm that occupies it. That is a one-time payment, as the city’s rent proceeds dropped by tens of thousands of dollars from a projected $161,600 in 2019 to $32,000 in 2020.

The budget process this year included 10 special work sessions throughout the spring and summer.

The fiscal year begins October 1.

See complete story in the October 2 edition of the Herald.