Vandalia seeks public input this week on 2019 budget

The city of Vandalia will discuss next year’s budget this week and will have open sessions for the public to attend for two or three evenings.

The meetings will give council members the opportunity to go through each department director’s budget requests, have them explain the items and why the requests are necessary.

The budget discussions started in June and will continue this month to decide of the city needs to increase the budget for next year.

The department heads met in June to look at their expenses and have continued to get an idea of how much revenue they expect to see in the next year.

The city looks at capital expenses it may have, and then officials put a proposed budget together.

Last year the city set the budget as $43.4 million for expenses and expected revenue of $44.7 million. The city stays close to the expense budget through the course of the year, according to Communications Manager Rich Hopkins.

The budget meetings offer the public a way to see where the city is headed. The new budget year starts the first of January and goes a full calendar year.

The meetings will be held today and Tuesday, starting at 6 p.m., and Wednesday, if needed. The meetings are held in the basemen of the Municipal Building on James E. Bohanan Memorial Drive.

Visit the city's website for updates on budget meetings, or contact Hopkins at 937-898-5891 for more information.

About the Author