Jefferson City mayor presents “conservative” FY2019 budget

UPDATE: The FY19 budget in Jefferson City is conservative this year, according to Mayor Carrie Tergin.

“I think that’s something we’ve had direction from council over the years of wanting, to keep our fund balance at a certain percent,” she said. “You never know when things come up.”

Tergin said that by keeping things frugal, they can maintain a certain level of service without overspending.

There are some ongoing concerns though. Capital expenditures have presented some fiscal challenges. The city should be funding those programs with $300,000 every year, but last year it only allocated $200,000. For 2019, they’re projected that number will be 0.

It’s likely the police department will only get 2 new vehicles this year.

“In addition, a lot of our vehicles and equipment are at the stage where we need maintenance,” said Tergin. “If there are ways we can fund them, that is ideal but certainly that’s one of our big challenges.”

The city council has to approve the budget by Nov. 1, but council members predicted they’ll probably be done before September is out.

Here is a link to the city’s budget process, which lays out the timeline and includes public hearing dates.

ORIGINAL STORY: Jefferson City is getting into its budget process for fiscal year 2019.

Mayor Carrie Tergin is set to present the budget Monday at 5:30 p.m.

After that, the budget committee is set to discuss revenues.

ABC 17 News will have a crew at the budget presentation, and will update you on what the city’s budget could look like for the next year.