Council adopts $37 million budget

By By Thomas Tingle
Record Managing Editor
The Madison City Council has adopted its 2003 budget of $37,036,887 – which includes a 2 percent cost of living raise for city employees.
The budget is broken down into the General Fund at $16,705,774; Special Revenue Fund at $5,291,401; Debt Service Fund at $6,365,975; and the Capital Projects Fund at $8,673,737.
The general budget includes $177,749 to provide a 2 percent cost of living raise to city employees, $81,408 for longevity raises and $50,000 for merit raises. Approximately 12 new city positions have been added to the budget, including nine firefighter positions for Fire Station No. 3 on County Line Road.
Approximately $60,000 has been budgeted to hire a lobbyist to represent Madison in Montgomery and Washington, D.C. $863,000 has been budgeted in the capital budget for the Police Department expansion at City Hall and $40,000 will go toward a new roof at the Madison Senior Center on Hughes Road.
Road projects include a proposed expansion of Balch Road. That project has been budgeted at $1.5 million. Approximately $1.4 million has been budgeted for drainage projects throughout the city.
Sales tax revenues, the city's main source of funding for the general budget is expected to rise 5.4 at $ 7.2 million. Property taxes are expected to bring in approximately $2 million.