Nov 5, 2015 2 min read

A first reading of the city of Washington’s 2016 budget prompted Mayor Brenda Davis to take the finance department to task Thursday for failing to schedule a budget work session.

“We were given the budget Monday night. It was shoved in our face,” Davis said. “This council has not sat down and had a budget work session, not once.”

Councilman Joe Manning, who heads the finance department, said he and Susan Koehler, deputy finance officer, look at trends from this year’s budget to determine line items, and that no major changes exist in the $12.4 million balanced budget.

“There’s no increase in taxes, no increase in fees,” Manning said. “(The budget) pretty much mirrors last year’s.”

Davis complained about cuts in police department items, which she heads. She noted the department’s gas allowance was cut by $8,000, and that an additional $2,500 she requested for police training was not granted.

“Gas prices are down so, across the board, every department gets less (for gas),” Koehler said. “That’s one way we balanced the budget.”

Koehler said Davis was to blame for the budget delay because she only recently turned in her department’s budget, despite a request from Koehler in early October.

“It doesn’t have to be balanced; it’s the first reading,” Koehler said.

Manning said he would schedule a work session soon, allowing time to tweak the budget before the Dec. 31 deadline.

Davis disagreed, noting other municipalities have a work session in October, then again in November, to iron out details.

“They don’t want our opinions,” Davis said of Manning and Koehler. “They don’t want our thoughts.”