GRAVETTE — A budget totaling more than $3,000,000 was approved for the city of Gravette at Thursday night’s meeting of the City Council.

The budget includes projected revenues and expenditures for general operation of the city, for capital improvements and for the water and sewer department.

Totaling $3,094,453, the revenue breakdown for general operations totals $1,444,629, $304,639 for capital improvements and $1,345,192 for the water and sewer operations.

Expenditure projections include $1,282,522 for general operations, $304,480 for capital improvements and $1,203,105 for the water and sewer operations.

Included is a projected revenue of $144,276 for streets, $49,778 for parks and $2,713 for the Hillcrest Cemetery Fund. Projected expenses for those entities are $131,204 for streets, $70,357 for parks and $14,713 for cemetery.

Other Council Action

In other action at the hour-long meeting, the Council approved a personnel handbook for city employees, tabled action on an ordinance to change salaries for elected and appointed officials, adopted a matrix flow chart for city departments, amended ordinances setting inspection fees, set an agenda timetable for city meetings and adopted current reference codes involving state building code requirements.

Action on all the items on the agenda went quickly and smoothly, including reading and approving the various measures on three readings, except the salary question.

That ordinance, which would have increased salaries for elected and appointed officials, was tabled for later consideration. As presented, the ordinance, if approved, would not have become effective until July 1.

Gravette citizen Mary Griffith, in a public statement, questioned why it was necessary to take the action now instead of waiting until later to consider the question. It was then the council agreed to table the measure for the present.

The personnel handbook, which has been a work in progress for several months, was approved unanimously, as was the matrix flow chart, a document recommended by the Arkansas Municipal League which delineates the organization and operation of various city departments.

Inspection Fee Change

The inspection fee ordinance amendment increased the re-inspection fee from $25 to $40, which the city has been paying for that service. Other parts of the existing ordinance remain unchanged.

The agenda ordinance provides for meetings of the Council and the Committee of the Whole to be held the fourth and second Thursday of each month, respectively, at the common time of 6 p.m. The council meeting will be held at the Civic Center, with the Committee meeting to be held at City Hall. Both are subject to council change if required by special circumstances.

Current electrical/ plumbing reference codes were updated from 2007 standards to present codes.

The council also amended a resolution passed in 2009 concerning fees the city willreceive from Steele Construction involving communication tower use. The city will begin receiving $500 per month from the firm for each new user of the tower except as used by the school. A representative of the firm indicated interest in purchasing the land site from the town. That could be discussed at a later committee meeting.

Biggest Expense

The department with the largest expense in the approved budget is $552,940 for the police department, up from the $523,248 in the city’s 2010 budget. The administration budget increased from $142,149 to $147,204; ambulance from $118,409 to $130,068. The fire department budget decreased from $61,323 to $56,373; library increased from $72,581 to $81,812; the museum decreased from $35,883 to $12,184 and planning department from $29,958 to $3,850.

According to the budget document, the city reserves include $276,336 in the general fund; $39,000, cemetery; $65,570, streets; and $50,720, water and sewer.

The complete budget document is on file at Gravette City Hall.

Community News, Pages 12 on 02/02/2011