COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL DISCUSS CITY'S BUDGET

The Cape Girardeau City Council will conduct a special meeting at 5 p.m. today to discuss next year's proposed $27 million budget.

At its June 3 meeting, the council gave initial approval to the budget, but scheduled the special meeting to iron out any possible amendments or objections to the proposal. At the June 3 meeting, Councilman Doug Richards and Mayor Gene Rhodes objected to the budget.

Richards was the only council member to vote against first reading of an ordinance adopting the budget, which is an increase of $2 million over the current one. He said the proposal should be cut back, not increased, to reflect the city's sagging sales tax revenues.

The city staff earlier this year reported that unless sales-tax receipts rebound, city employees wouldn't receive any salary increases in next year's budget.

But city administrators contended the $2 million increase in the budget is needed to fund critical capital projects and to meet growing demands for additional city services.

But Rhodes said June 3 that he thought a lot of "fat" could be trimmed out of the budget. The council will consider final approval of the budget at its June 17 meeting. Today's meeting will be held in the City Manager's office at City Hall.