FY2023 city budget of $8.1M approved

The city of Newcastle approved a budget of $8,108,121 at a hearing on June 20, for fiscal year 2023 that runs from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. 
The city also closed the books on the past year and stayed well within its fiscal 2022 budget of $7,372,252, as expenditures as of June 30 totaled only $5,704,206.61. 
The new budget is $735,869 higher than the one set in fiscal 2022, and City Clerk-Treasurer Stacy Haggerty said that sewer lagoon maintenance takes up a large portion of the increase. 
“$730,000 was budgeted for lagoon maintenance, opposed to $30,000 for the year prior,” Haggerty explained. 
Total general fund requirements amount to $4,121,421, including the Newcastle Police Department, $1,511,000; streets and alleys, $904,000; Newcastle Volunteer Fire Department, $229,500; and health and welfare, $170,500, among other items. 
Water fund requirements total $2,289,700, with $1,347,000 for wells, tanks and pumping equipment and $637,000 for transmission and distribution as the highest items. Sewer fund requirements total $1,080,450, including $1,028,700 for sewer. Garbage fund requirements total $616,550, including $404,250 for operating expenses. 
Some major projects to be completed include the remodel of the Newcastle Police Department, which is reflected in the budget for that line item, and the lagoon maintenance. 
Regular lagoon maintenance entails monitoring water quality and levels, according to city engineer Mike Moore. However, since the lagoon has been in operation for over 30 years, it is past due to clean out the sludge. The lagoon has four cells that water goes through, A, B, C and D, at the end of which the water is usable for irrigation, which is what the excess water is used for. Cell A was cleaned out last year, and Cell B has to be cleaned this year. Moore said that it’s a long process to dry out the cells to clean the sludge. The plan is to also stir up the sludge in Cells C and D this year to help break it down. 
Moore said they even received a Mineral Royalty Grant from the State Loan and Investment Board of a little over $600,000, that the city will be matching, to help with the lagoon project. 
The police department remodel, Moore said, was awarded to local contractor Whetsell Carpentry, whose awarded bid was $233,766, and is set to be complete by Sept. 15. With the recent decision to split dispatch for the city and county and the police department needing to move out of the Weston County Law Enforcement Center, the hope was originally to move out of the center by the end of this fiscal year. However, the bidding process can be a long one, Moore said, because architectural plans need to be drawn before bidding can be opened. Bidding was opened April 26 of this year. 
“I think the county has been very generous as far as giving us ample time to make this transition,” Moore said. 
On the primary (ground) level of the department, which is in the same building as city hall, there will be a dispatch area. Some modifications include new flooring and extensive wiring modifications. Next door to that will be the dispatch office. Also on the same floor will be the police chief’s office and a server room. A service window will also be added on that floor. 
On the second floor will be the corporal’s office, an evidence room, kitchen, squad room and breakroom area. Modifications will be made to the walls and new flooring added. 
In addition, all exterior doors will be changed to steel doors, and all windows to security windows, Moore said, for overall security of the facility. The main access to the department will be off the east side of the building, and Moore said the department’s address will be 30 N. Summit. 
According to Haggerty, the city does not foresee much change in revenue moving forward into the next fiscal year.