Gonzales Department heads work on budget

Budget talks have begun for the city of Gonzales as department heads met with the Gonzales City Council for two budget workshops last week.

Departments from the Gonzales Fire Department to the Waste Water Department went over their proposed budgets with Mayor Steve Sucher and the city council and listed out their list of top priorities.

“What we're going to be doing is going over the budget, kind of in a condensed form, just looking at stuff, giving you the information.” City Manager Tim Patek said. “And then we want to get feedback from you guys how you want us to handle the budget.”

One of the big topics that most departments are dealing with is inflation from increased fuel prices and materials, causingmany departments to readjust their budget.

Patek explained to the council that the departments are conservative when spending and “get what they need within a reasonable price.”

“We've always always been that way. Whatever is leftover gets back into the general fund.” Patek said. “We don't want to go and start spending and just to get rid of the money. We want to be conservative and make sure we get what we need but make sure we need it.”

Patek will take a look at the fuel budget for the departments, and see where the gas prices are going.

Before the start of the budget workshop Tuesday, June 28, the council approved two agenda items:

--approved to make Councilwoman Sherri Koepp as mayor pro temp.

--approved to authorize the city manager to execute an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between Gonzales County and the City of Gonzales.