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Politics & Government

Kirkwood City Council Approves 2012-2013 Budget

The mayor says revenues are up and the city's economy is slowly improving.

The approved the Fiscal Year 2013 budget unanimously Tuesday night. The city will allocate about $21 million for the 2012-2013 general budget, compared to last year’s more than $22 million.

In a letter sent to the council in February, Kirkwood’s Chief Financial Officer Michael Brown said the city was experiencing slow but steady economic growth and financial stability.

In February, councilors received a quarterly report showing the city had experienced three quarters of economic growth. The report indicated sales tax in the city were up $126,000 and the general fund revenue was up by more than half a million dollars compared to the same time last year.

Mayor Art McDonnell said councilors and city staff spent a lot of time carefully reviewing the budget. He added that even though it was a hard job, it allowed the city to be more fiscally responsible.

“It’s a little tedious to do it that way, but I think everyone in the council understands it, and I think there’s been some good suggestions for the administration,” McDonnell said. “We wished we had more money to spend on different projects, but we are grateful that revenues are starting to move in Kirkwood.”

McDonnell said he thought Kirkwood will be uniquely positioned as the economy turns around because the city’s sales tax revenues have increased as well as new development of homes and buildings in the area.

“We are doing well,” McDonnell said. “Of course, we would like to be back to the days of a number of years ago. At least things are not going down; they are going up in the right direction.”

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