Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet council approves budget for 2003

While December brings with it the holiday season, it also brings about budget time for area communities.

Emmet's City Council, in its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, Dec. 11, approved a budget for 2003.

Emmet Mayor Dale Booker said the city had a shortfall for 2002, though more money had been expected to come in because of the rise in population.

Booker said the problem is the national economy and people not spending as much as had been expected.

The shortfall, though, didn't mean the city ended the year in the red. This would have been illegal, as under law the community must have a balanced budget and can't enter into deficit spending.

What occurred was the city received less money than officials had anticipated when the budget was done at the end of 2001.

The 2003 general fund for Emmet, Booker said, will be $65,000, while the street fund should receive $26,000. The water department will have the largest budget at $80,000.

These figures, he said, are less than was budgeted in 2002.

Emmet, Booker said, managed to get a lot done in 2002.

Plans for 2003, he said, are to make surface repair on some of the city's streets, and hopefully not have to spend much on construction jobs for the city.

The council had to approve spending about $3,500 on repairs to the pumps at the sewer pond, as water had gotten into the sealed boxes and shorted the motors out.

These pumps, Booker said, were 17-years-old and the seals had deteriorated, allowing water to get in.

However, he told the council the expenditure wasn't on the December financial report, but would be on the January statement.

The problem has been corrected, with the cables being encased in conduit. Booker said this should ease the situation unless the cables get cut.

There is also a problem with the pumps on Hickey Lane, he said, as they will need to be replaced sometime in the near future. The cost of these motors will be more, as they are larger than the ones used at the sewer pond.

The council had to approve appropriating $3,500 to the street department to pay for unpaid payroll taxes from the 2001 storm.

"This should have been paid last year," Booker said, "but it was overlooked and not figured into the budget. I thought it had been paid."

As the meeting drew to a close, Booker talked about an article he read in the Municipal League magazine concerning animal control.

He said a city about the size of Emmet put up a dog shelter consisting of a chain link fence, concrete slab, food, water and shelters for the animals.

The article, Booker said, stated the city required all dogs to be licensed and owners fined if their animals ran loose or caused problems.

He suggested a committee be formed in January to look into the situation, see what it would cost Emmet and if it would be worth the effort.