NATCHEZ &045; City aldermen facing another tight budget are dealing with two similar issues in most department heads’ budget requests: pay raises for city employees and the rising cost of gasoline.

Several department heads have requested raises for their employees, many at $200 a month per employee.

While the city has not yet adopted any budget proposals, Alderman David Massey said Thursday the city would seriously consider employee raises.

&uot;We’re going to look at everything,&uot; he said. &uot;It’s been six years (since employees had a raise). If we can, we can. If we can’t, it’s a bad situation.&uot;

Aldermen on Tuesday heard budget requests from the traffic, inspection, public works, transportation and tourism departments.

But aldermen are also coping with higher gasoline prices. Aldermen asked each department head how many city cars are taken home at night and asked department heads to keep a close watch on the amount of driving done. Aldermen also asked department heads to shop around for the lowest gas prices in town.

Aldermen also heard from Tourism Director Walter Tipton, who said activity at the convention center and other city facilities is busy &045; but that means fees for some of those facilities are no longer keeping up with the budget for utilities.

&uot;With these facilities, the fee structure is not designed to pay for them,&uot; Tipton said. &uot;The money has to come from increased sales taxes&uot; and other economic benefits from hosting conventions and other events.

Massey agreed that aldermen knew when they built the convention center that it would not pay for itself in fees.

&uot;Visitors are really picking up,&uot; Tipton said.

But that means increased costs for electricity and other utilities are exceeding the tourism budget, Tipton said. He has repeatedly requested general fund transfers to pay for the shortfall.

Massey suggested the city consider sponsoring events on weekends the convention center is free to try to attract visitors.

&uot;That’s one of the reasons why we sponsored the antiques show,&uot; Tipton said, although he noted that sponsoring events can be risky if an event does not make money.