PALESTINE —
The Palestine City Council on Monday unanimously adopted an approximately $30 million budget for the upcoming 2012-13 fiscal year.
The city’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30.
Prior to approving the overall budget, council members OK’d six amendments to the proposed fiscal year budget which was filed with the city secretary in early August.
Those items, including the addition of three new positions in the water department, Christmas decorations and charitable giving, increased the overall budget by a total of $184,403.
Probably the most heavily-discussed of the budget amendments was one calling for the city to allot $7,500 for “charitable giving.”
Palestine City Manager Mike Ohrt said his “natural inclination” for potential giving by the city would be to aid communities facing disaster situations, but added, “I think it’s important to sit down and put some parameters in place.”
Ohrt said the city might contribute money to “a local Red Cross” or give “money to the city of X in the event of a hurricane.
“Say, ‘Hey, we can’t send people,’ but we can send a monetary donation, the city manager explained.
“There’s nothing that says we can only give to disaster relief,” Ohrt added.
With the city needing to make substantial sewer, street and other improvements, Palestine Mayor Bob Herrington questioned whether the $7,500 budget amendment was a prudent expenditure of taxpayer monies.
Council member Therrell Thomas, who was the most vocal supporter of the amendment Monday, responded by saying, “If I waited until everything was perfect in my life, I would never give.”
To which Herrington retorted, “It’s easy to give other peoples’ money.”
“$7,500 out of a $30 million budget, I don’t know if you’d even call that giving,” Thomas replied. “It’s a start, it’s a seed...I think it speaks volumes about us as a city.”
The council ultimately approved the charitable giving amendment by a 5-1 vote, with Herrington casting the dissenting vote.
The council later approved the 2012-13 budget by a unanimous 6-0 margin.
The council also adopted a tax rate of .639 cents per $100 valuation which was unchanged from the previous year’s budget.
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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com
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City Council adopts $30 million budget
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