The Mayor of Butler delivered a ‘State of the City’ report during a Butler City Council meeting Thursday.
“Our financial issues have not changed in the last 20 years,” Mayor Tom Donaldson said. “We continue to be overrun by non-profits. Our revenues continue to be flat while expenses continue to rise. We have an opportunity to monetize our parking assets. If the dollar amount is right, we cannot afford to miss out on this opportunity.”
Donaldson did point to progress over the past year in areas like the Centre City project, repairs to the Penn Theater, the veteran banner program, and the Carved in Ice Festival, as well as local road paving and repairs. However, he maintains work still needs to be done in areas such as union contracts, equipment replacement, taxes and development.
In his role as Director of Accounts and Finance, Councilman Mike Walter also sees finances as an area where the city is in a tough spot but improvement is possible.
“We ended up with a surplus of $20,000 this year- which isn’t a lot for running this city,” Walter said Thursday. “We’re squeaking through. We were looking in the couch cushions for change. We did make it and it was tight. This year is going to be another tight year. We can do better on this.”
Mayor Donaldson and Councilman Walter are joined by Councilwoman Kathy Kline, Councilman Kenny Bonus, and Councilman Cory Roche to make up Butler City Council, which is the governing body that makes decisions concerning the city.
View the entire report HERE
Written By: Ryan Saeler for the Butler Radio Network
