The city’s budget review with the public was last night.

It is my opinion that the board of aldermen owes the citizens of Natchez an apology for the content of the budget meeting.

After Mr. Holloway read out the numbers on a recap sheet, I asked if the total savings were about $104,000, as was listed. I was told that was not all the savings. So the expense side of the presentation was not accurate. No, I did not ask what the revised number would be, nor did the aldermen offer a number.

Mr. Holloway was only presenting what the aldermen authorized, so let’s not shoot the messenger.

But if you read The Natchez Democrat on a regular basis, you know that the board has been touting how hard they were working on the budget. I now have serious doubts about their efforts. I certainly have doubts about their credibility.

If I attend a budget meeting, I fully expect all the numbers to be the best estimates available. I would not expect to discover that some budget numbers are missing. Now, we might disagree about the numbers but at least every number is on the “table.”

As for a millage reduction, I think you can kiss that goodbye!

When the aldermen were asked about a millage reduction, the comment from the board was that we have incurred debt without corresponding revenue.

Gee, you incurred the debt, whose fault is that! Reallocate your resources and take care of the debt.

Your pet project may not get funded but do not put that onus on the taxpayer.

I would say that the board owes the citizens of Natchez another chance to review the budget before it is adopted. In fact, the citizens should demand another chance at a review.

Just my humble opinion.

Gary E. McCullars

Natchez resident