SALEM Officials plan for spending increase

Council is expected to vote on the measure at the end of the month.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- City officials have crafted a 2003 budget that calls for about $4.7 million in spending, a nearly 2 percent increase over the 2002 spending plan.
The proposed budget was reviewed Wednesday by city council's finance committee, and it may receive some fine tuning. But it is largely in place and is likely to be voted on by council Dec. 30, city Auditor Jim Armeni said.
Armeni said the proposed budget increase is largely the result of boosts in wage and benefit costs for city employees.
He noted that the city spent about $720,000 this year for health insurance. That amount is expected to increase by about 12 percent in 2003, he said.
The 2003 spending plan includes about $550,000 that will be carried over from 2002 into 2003 to enable the city to pay bills early in the new year.
Also included in the proposed spending plan is a capital improvements budget of about $900,000.
That's less than the nearly $1.2 million spent this year, which included spending associated with improvements to East State Street where it passes through the city's commercial district.
Fire and police departments
Also included in the 2003 budget is $1.1 million earmarked for the fire department.
This year, the fire department has spent about $850,000, Armeni said.
The increase for 2003 is largely to cover pay and benefit boosts and an anticipated need to spend more on gasoline for fire trucks, he explained.
The police department's proposed 2003 budget is $1.5 million. The department spent about $1.3 million this year.
It's expected to need more money in 2003 to cover wage and benefit increases.
Council might pass a budget covering only the first three months of the year to give it a chance to better gauge spending needs in 2003, Armeni said. If that's the case, the full-year budget may then be adopted in April.