Warden City Council approves 2019 budget

WARDEN — The Warden City Council has approved a $7.9 million budget for 2019, including just under $1.5 million for the city’s general fund and $4.2 million for the city’s water and sewer fund.

The overall budget is down 12 percent from $9.1 million 2018, largely because of a major decline in capital spending in the water-sewer budget.

The budget, which was passed in late November, is designed to “maintain or exceed the current level of service to our citizens” and “ensure the completion” some major water and sewer projects, according to a statement from Warden Mayor Tony Massa.

Around $2.6 million in the water sewer fund comes as grants and loans to help finish the drilling of Well No. 9 near the city’s airport and the build a new sewer line and lift station on the western side of Warden. The city is in the midst of a major renovation of its water and sewer system that would add several thousand feet of new sewer line to the city, including a gravity line to the far west side for future development.

The plan could lead to an increase in sewer rates for Warden residents of $11.25 per month to $67.41, a rise of 20 percent.

General fund expenditures of $1.5 million, which is about 2 percent less than the city’s 2018 budget, include $573,000 to for the police department of one chief, three officers and a records clerk. The city is also setting aside $47,000 in its capital fund to purchase a new police car.

In addition, the city is budgeting around $1.8 million for street and road maintenance, noting that Warden “has funding from the (state’s) Transportation Improvement Board for work on West Eighth Street, Weir Way and a First Street sidewalk project.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached by email at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.