The Holts Summit Board of Aldermen adopted the city's 2015 budget at its regular meeting Monday night in the city's new municipal center.
Next year's budget does not have significant changes from the city's 2014 budget.
The city's budget is broken into six different funds - the general fund, which includes general administration; the park fund; Police Department and Municipal Court; the transportation fund; sewer fund; animal control fund; and capitol improvements fund. The sewer fund is the largest percentage of the city's budget.
The city's 2015 budget does not show any major increases or decreases in any of those six funds. One increase in the budget accounts for the city having more space and building maintenance with the opening of the city's new municipal center.
The board held its regular meeting Monday night in the city's new municipal center. The facility is now open and in use after about three years of planning and construction. Moving forward, the board will meet in the new facility. The Board of Aldermen chambers will also serve as the city's municipal court room.
The city staff and police department have grown and were cramped in the previous space, City Administrator Brian Crane said Monday night. He said the new facility includes a meeting room, court room and some other offices. The city also built a connection between the building and the Police Department building to increase storage for the Police Department and completed other renovations to the building.
"We started about three years ago looking at ways to expand our buildings to accommodate the growth the city had seen over the last few years," Crane said. "It was a really good project for us and we are really excited about the growth and development of this community."
The total cost of the project - construction, furnishings, security cameras, etc. - was about $550,000.
Also at its meeting Monday night, to honor a former board member who recently died, the board proclaimed Nov. 10 to be Alderman Jim Ringland Day. Ringland's term on the board ended in 2009. He was a veteran and served tours in Korea and Vietnam.
In other news, the board again tabled further discussion and a decision on the proposed mandatory trash service bill. The bill has been on the board's agenda since summer. Crane said the board can pick one of the options currently on the table, pass the bill or decide to withdraw the bill.
"We've discussed this quite a bit. We've tried to get as much information as possible, Allied Waste has been very good at supplying us information," Crane said. "At this point I don't know what else we could provide."
The city of Holts Summit first started talking about ways to slow the litter and illegal dumping in town last October. Holts Summit has used Allied Waste since the 1990s, but has not required residents have trash service. The city reached out to Allied for potential solutions to its trash problem.
Holts Summit Mayor Lucas Fitzpatrick said the board's goal is to decrease the city's litter and illegal dumping problem. The bill requiring trash service is one way the board is attempting to meet that goal.
"I don't care how we get there, let's just get there (to that goal)," Fitzpatrick said Monday night.
The city has held a public hearing and heard public comments on Allied's proposal over the past several months. About 1,200 residents in Holts Summit have trash service while between 300 and 400 do not. If passed, the bill would require those 300-400 residents to pay for trash service. Fitzpatrick told the board members to come to the board's next regular meeting prepared to have a healthy discussion on the trash bill. Crane said the city's staff is ready to move forward with what the board decides.
"We have these three options and they're sitting out there and we are looking for direction from the board," Crane said to the board Monday night.