Ferriday, Vidalia to adopt new budget

Published 12:11 am Saturday, June 26, 2010

VIDALIA — The municipalities of Ferriday and Vidalia will have special meetings Tuesday to adopt a budget for the coming fiscal year.

Both meetings will be at the respective municipalities’ town halls starting at 6 p.m.

Ferriday Mayor Glen McGlothin and Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland both said the budgets were being prepared but would not likely have significant differences from this year’s budgets.

Email newsletter signup

Ferriday’s budget for this fiscal year — which started July 1, 2009, and will end June 30 — was $2.5 million. Vidalia’s was $34.2 million.

“We are not going to do anything major, just hope we can get a little money here or there,” McGlothin said.

Ferriday hasn’t seen an increase in revenue, and most of the cuts that can be made have already been done, McGlothin said.

“The only thing left now would be to cut personnel, and we don’t have that many employees,” McGlothin said. “I hope we don’t have to do that.”

The town’s revenue concerns can be addressed in part by adding new, working water meters into the system, McGlothin said.

“We still have bad meters, and we are going to continue to lose money at the water plant hand over fist until we fix them,” McGlothin said.

Vidalia City Manager Ken Walker will finish preparation work on the budget and will likely meet with the aldermen to discuss it Monday, Copeland said.

“I don’t foresee any major increases in the budget,” Copeland said. “Revenue might be up. I don’t see any issues or problems as far as operating capital is concerned.”

During the meetings, the boards will have a public hearing to discuss the budget.

The new fiscal year will start July 1.