Council Passes FY2019 Budget

Bourbon city council members passed the fiscal year 2019 budget on June 18, approving $1.9 million in spending.

Roughly a quarter of that will go towards the Pine Street rebuild. Almost $500,000 has been budgeted from a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

Though the project has yet to get started, Bourbon Mayor Danny Skaggs told board members that he is confident it will soon get off the ground.

City Clerk Cathy Bremer’s budget message announced that only $6,000 had been used from the grant, all of it going towards administration with the Meramec Regional Planning Commission.

The city was able to budget a 3 percent cost-of-living allowance for each employee, plus an increase in LAGERS.

Bourbon also budgeted nearly $30,000 for the school resource officer (SRO). The city and Crawford County R-1 School District have agreed on a contract to provide the service for the next school year.

Officer Amanda Rauss served as SRO during the 2018-2019 school year. Seventy-five percent of her wages and benefits are paid by the Bourbon School District, with the city picking up the other 25 percent.

The budget included a $10,000 transfer to the police department budget for a four-year lease of a new vehicle.

Overall, the police department budget is $324,240.

In the street department, the city budgeted $207,400. Some of that will go to the Pine Street rebuild, including $20,000 budgeted for wages for part-time hires to help perform concrete work; $55,000 for street contract work and $19,800 for engineering/construction inspection.

The water department has a budget of $319,425 and the sewer department $242,355, along with a proposed 10 cent per 1,000 gallon increase for both. 

Bourbon has not raised water since July 2016 and sewer since August 2016.

The clerk projects that with the rate increase, the city will bring an additional $3,000 in revenue.

The city hall budget was set at $328,335; $12,000 for the municipal court and $33,580 for the park.