Wesson Board of Aldermen reviews budget

Published 9:14 pm Wednesday, August 2, 2017

The Wesson Board of Alderman expects little change to the town’s budget.

A public hearing will take place prior to the next meeting, Sept. 5, when the board will likely approve the 2017 budget. Mayor Alton Shaw passed out copies of the proposed budget to aldermen at Tuesday’s monthly meeting. He told them to study it and they’ll discuss it at the September hearing.

“The alderman will take a look at it over the next month and see if there are any changes that need to be made. They will review it and the next meeting in September we will officially approve the budget,” Shaw said.

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The mayor doesn’t anticipate a tax increase this year.

“There are some areas where our revenues will go up, some that will go down and some areas where it will balance itself out,” he said. “We’re looking at some expense-cutting strategies to save on some current expenses, but for the most part the budget will not change much.”

The proposed budget includes an estimated revenue of $583,600. Ad valorem tax accounts for $175,000 of the revenue, $145,000 from sales tax and $50,000 from fines and forfeitures, with the rest coming from various taxes, fees and fines.

The town anticipates spending slightly less than it will take in — an estimated $583,360. Of that, $174,250 is for general government, while the police department accounts for $272,350, street department for $97,350, the Old School building for $27,200 and the library for $12,210. Salaries in various departments account for $290,000 of the expected expense.

A public hearing will also be scheduled to hear a request of a homeowner who wants to move a mobile home into an area not zoned for manufactured housing.

“Right now we know that the zoning board is going to take a look at their application and eventually make a decision. There will be a public hearing, but we haven’t set a date for that yet,” Shaw said.

The board Tuesday also recognized former alderman John Welter for his service to the town as an alderman for more than 20 years. Shaw presented Welter with a certificate.

In other business, the board approved Bob Lawrence as the city prosecutor and Brad Turner as public works director.

“They’ve both been in those positions for quite some time,” Shaw said. “We just didn’t get it approved until this board meeting.”

Lawrence has been the city prosecutor since 2004 and Turner has been the public works director since January.

The next board meeting is on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. in the Wesson Town Hall.