Still Work To Do On Budget

The latest numbers are in regarding the 2013 budget for Dryden.
City Manager Joe van Koeverden presented an update at last night’s open council meeting, and says right now they have a deficit of $421,000.
Van Koeverden says over the next week, they’re going to try to get the deficit down to roughly $200,000.
He notes if they do that, they will likely be asking for a 3% tax increase.
Van Koeverden did say they have about $500,000 in staffing cuts, and are looking at an additional $200,000-$300,000 in service and program cuts.
Van Koeverden wouldn’t go into specifics regarding layoffs and departments most impacted.
He notes staff and council have to be notified first.
Finance Chair Martin MacKinnon has indicated that the police budget has come down and that department likely won’t be impacted.
An update on the budget will be provided next Monday and van Koeverden is hoping for Council approval in early April.