Officials from the City of Petal have passed a balanced budget with approximately $10.2 million in total revenue in the general fund, along with no property tax increases from the city side.
The budget was passed at the Sept. 12 meeting of the Petal Board of Aldermen, where Mayor Tony Ducker said if the water department is added to that figure, the amount goes up to approximately $16 million.
“I think its’s a solid budget; on conservative projections we’ll balance,” Ducker said. “In fact, we believe we’ll have a surplus that will allow us to put some more money into some capital campaigns that we’re working on, as far as infrastructure goes.
“This is the first time that I’ve been involved with a budget that intentionally, or specifically, goes out and does that.”
The general fund includes, among other measures, $2.85 million for the Petal Police Department, $2.8 million for the Petal Fire Department, $2.07 million for streets and highways, $133,766 for the City of Petal Senior & Veterans Center and almost $88,000 for Petal Civic Center.
It also lists $752,715 for financial matters, $54,190 for legal matters, $10,000 for elections and $37,788 for data processing.
The sanitation fund includes approximately $1.08 million in revenue and expenditures. Revenue for the water department is $4.68 million, with expenses of $4.6 million.
Revenue for capital projects is set at $1.49 million, with expenses of $1.26 million. Officials also have budgeted $500,000 for an upcoming access road from Central Avenue to the Robert E. Russell Sports Complex on Hillcrest Drive.
The millage rate for the city will remain at 46.21, which has stayed constant for more than 10 years. That amount does not include millage for Forrest County or the Petal School District, both of which are set by those respective governmental entities and added to residents within the city limits.
One mill equals a tenth of a cent; to calculate property tax, divide the millage by 1,000 and multiply it by the property’s assessed taxable value. For example, if a city were to institute a .64 millage increase, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay an additional $6.40 per year in property taxes.
“We’re growing the right way by actually growing in value and by numbers of residents, numbers of shoppers,” Ducker said. “I think that’s the more prudent way to grow.
“Obviously, holding the line on millage is a good thing.”
Ducker said he is proud that the budget includes room for infrastructure improvements and employee pay raises.
“We’ve got quite a bit of pay raises that will take place, taking care of pretty much everyone in the city, specifically our first responders – fire and police,” he said. “This is the current administration’s third budget, so we’ve been able to rectify some of the pay inadequacies from the past; when you don’t have the money, you just can’t take care of things of that nature.
“It was a tough budget to put together, because there’s so many more decisions when you have a few (extra) funds. But you will see more of an emphasis on us trying to find outside dollars – I believe myself and the board feel like there are things we would like to accomplish, but it will take some outside monies to get done. I think we’re in a growth stage in the city, that we need to be more diligent about trying to find those outside funds.”
