The Fourth of July holiday made for a short work week for Natchez city officials. But most, including new City Clerk Donnie Holloway, are making up for it this week.

Actually, Holloway put in a few hours early last Monday morning with out-going clerk Francis Trosclair as she helped him get familiarized with office procedures and filing systems.

&uot;She’s been very helpful,&uot; Holloway said. In fact, Trosclair made a return visit to city hall Monday to assist Holloway in his first official duty – putting together the city’s budget for fiscal year 2001.

As with new Mayor F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith, Holloway is spending much of his first full week in office meeting with the city’s department heads.

As part of the &uot;get-to-know-you-sessions,&uot; Holloway is asking department heads to submit their proposed budgets to his office by July 17.

While the new budget will not go into effect until October 1, Holloway said he wants to get a &uot;head start&uot; on the project.

&uot;We’d like to go ahead and get it in and see where we are,&uot; he said.

The meetings with department heads are important, Holloway said, because it gives him a chance to &uot;see what they’ve got on their minds, and let them see what’s on mine.&uot;

In preparing the city’s budget, Holloway does not have to start from ground zero. Along with Trosclair’s experience, Holloway said he will use the current budget as a &uot;springboard.&uot;

He added that any budget serves as a projection of the amount of funds required by the city, and a little &uot;wiggle room&uot; is built in to the final numbers. &uot;But not a whole lot of wigglin’,&uot; he said.