By Joe Bachman

The city passed the Water Works and Light budget on Tuesday night.

The budget will see a slight eight percent increase totaling approximately $190,000 dollars. The bottom line for taxpayers is that the revenue and expenses will still equal out meaning rates will not increase for homeowners.

A new Filter Plant Operator position was also included in the budget, and according to Director of Finance for Water Works and Light Jeff Kuhn, the creation of a position was deemed necessary.

“Right now we only have three operators for two shifts,” said Kuhn. “If there was ever a catastrophic event where someone had to take off there would only be two operators left. Having someone work 16 hours days is not something we want to do.”

Built into the increase in budget are the construction costs of water main repairs that will take place next year.

“I would like to recognize the staff and commissioners,” said Public Works Director Joe Terry. “One of the challenges we face both in utility and water service is coordinating our projects — we’ve had some really good discussions and the patterns evolving for us to work well and compromise where we have to are positive.”