Politics & Government

Trenton City Administrator Confident in Budget Proposal

City officials will present the 2012-13 budget proposal to Trenton City Council members for approval on May 21.

One of the strongest points in the 2012-13 budget proposal is the fact that there are no lay offs according to Trenton City Administrator Jim Wagner.

The budget proposal will be presented to Trenton City Council members for approval on May 21 at .

Wagner said city officials and council members were able to come to an agreement on several issues, resulting in a balanced budget at .

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"We worked together as a team," Wagner said. "Mayor Pro-tem (Terrence Teifer) did a very commendable job in bringing all of us together."

The budget requires taking $250,000 from the fund balance, but Wagner said the important thing is that people get to keep their jobs.

Find out what's happening in Trenton Grosse Ilewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We made some general fund assumptions and if we meet our assumptions there will be no lay off," Wagner said.

The "assumptions" Wagner referred to are scheduled quarterly meetings where department heads will be required to meet specific financial goals to keep day-to-day costs down.

City Controller Christine Arnoczki said one of the primary reasons the city was able to overcome was by proposing a tax increase of 3 mills. The increase would be the equivalent of about $3 per $1,000 of taxable property value for residents according to Arnoczki.

Trenton Mayor Kyle Stack recommended an increase of one mill and council members agreed on an additional two mill increase to balance the budget Arnoczki said.

She added there will be no diminishment of services.

Wagner said he is confident council members will approve the proposed budget.

"I'm confident that by Monday there will be a sufficient number of votes to pass the budget."


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