Lima Mayor David Berger has given his 2018 budget estimate to city council.
The general fund budget is estimated at $34.6 million, a two percent increase from the 2017 general fund budget. The total budget including enterprise funds is estimated at $175 million. Of the general fund about 80 percent is going towards safety services and the next largest appropriation is for public works. The city had a cash balance of $7 million at the end of this year which will go towards sustaining employment in Lima.
"Increases in our budget this year are to pay for the man power which has been added," said Steven Cleaves, Lima Finance director and Treasurer. "The expense portion of our budget for materials, contracts and things are fairly constant. They've been constant year after year. The additional man power we've added, we've added some 40 employees over the last couple of years."
Berger's proposal will be discussed with the finance committee before being voted on by city council.
