NATCHEZ &045; The city is facing a $200,000-a-year increase in debt service payments on the convention center.

And city officials will begin meeting next week to figure out a budget for a fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 &045; including ways to make up that increase, City Clerk Donnie Holloway said.

City department heads turned in their 2005-2006 budget requests by July 18.

As of Tuesday, Mayor Phillip West and aldermen had not yet scheduled a specific date or time for their budget work sessions.

&uot;But right now, we’re looking at next week&uot; to start those meetings, Holloway said.

Then, each August, city officials meet with department heads to ask questions about specific line items in the budget requests.

Holloway did say the $200,000-a-year increase in convention center debt service payments had been anticipated. Now, it’s just a question of juggling budget numbers to accommodate the increase, he said.

Meanwhile, county officials are still waiting for some of their department heads to turn in budget requests for the upcoming fiscal year.

County Administrator Charlie Brown said county officials should begin meeting in about two weeks to work on the 2005-2006 budget.

Under state law, both city and county governments must adopt their budgets for the next fiscal year by Sept. 15.