Tulsa city councilors enter the last stretch of tinkering with the mayor's proposed budget.
Keith Eldridge in the city finance department said revenue projections are up, but there's not really room to add costs.
"A lot of the budget for 2016 is flat," Eldridge said. "A lot of the increases in the FY16 budget are related to compensation, both for FY15 and 16, and we're looking at a FY16 impact, a full-year impact, for civilians for the increases there. That's going to be the largest part of the increases for the general fund."
City Council Budget Chair Phil Lakin said while the mayor's proposed budget has been a collaborative effort, there are some tweaks to be made.
"In the grand scheme of things, we're going to change it by less than $1 million," Lakin said. "In the general fund, we're talking about $270 million or so, so that's a very, very small change on a percentage basis."
The council has a list of priorities they'd like funded at some point during the next fiscal year, and the finance department provided a ranked list of up to $2 million in cuts. Those priorities range from more mowing cycles to chipping in for bus driver raises.
"We have two options that we're looking into," Lakin said. "Do we amend the mayor's budget and include them now? Or do we just prioritize them and include them at a later time once revenues are realized? I think we'll end up with a combination of those."
Councilors will likely approve a 2016 fiscal year budget at next Thursday's meeting. They have until June 23 but would have to call a special meeting.
