Budgets for several Lima departments were reviewed on Jan. 22 as a part of the council's three-day budget hearings.
The clerk of courts, judges, economic development, IT technicians and utilities were just some of the departments reviewed during the first day of the budget hearing.
On Jan. 22 the council reviewed budgets from 2016 to 2018, with the purpose of making sure that the city budgeted the appropriate funds and is in line with the previous years. Council says the 2019 budget is not only in line with previous years, but is even better.
“As a good city we maintained a very good balance of about $7-8 million normally and that gives a really good credit rating,” said Sam McLean, Lima Finance committee chair. "That’s what our whole consistency is because whenever we go out and borrow money for our capital repairs or for vehicles or to do things like the body cameras those are gone out on a bond and that bond rating is our interest rate that we spend to get that money and we keep a good rate. Our city has one of the best and we want to maintain that.”
This year the council plans to increase the budget for the Lima Fire Department and the Lima Police Department.
“Those [police and fire department] are 78 percent of our budget,” said McLean. “So if you take a dollar and you take 78 cents from it, it doesn’t leave a lot to operate our city. But that’s what happens. So they are our initial and the most expensive part of our system, but they are also the people that protect you and I, so we want that to be there.”
The budget hearings will continue until Thursday and the public are encouraged to attend to provide suggestions regarding the budget.
