By SHEILA G. KELLEY

Staff writer

Balancing the budget has been challenging, city administrator Larry Paine told Hillsboro city council members Tuesday.

“I’m not sure how to cover a $134,000 deficient we have right now. It’s a tough one,” Paine said.

At a July 3 meeting, Paine reported the proposed budget was $345,000 in the red. But since, council member Brent Driggers said, Paine has been making progress.

“Nobody said it was going to be easy,” Mayor Lou Thurston said. “We don’t want to cut services but, at the same time, we have to be ready to do what needs done to care for our constituents.”

A 4 p.m. public hearing on Aug. 7 at city hall will allow citizens to consider the budget once Paine has completed it.

The city’s proposed budget calls for $9,579,610, which will change after Paine figures out how to get the balance down. In many funds, there will be increases and decrease because of the addition of bond funds and transfers for capital improvement projects, he said.

County commissioner candidate Craig Dodd and incumbent Kent Becker started Tuesday’s meeting with an overview of their goals.

Warren Deckert said work was completed at his 311 Eisenhower St. residence, but Thurston said Deckert must provide a completed inspection on or before Aug. 7 for a scheduled condemnation hearing to be cancelled.

Resident Russell Groves thanked council members for supporting a special assessment district he proposed.

“It’s not just wonderful for the 16 lots but was sized to accommodate future development,” he said.

No one protested cost distributions for the Groves project. Property owners have 30 days to pay their assessed share or the amount will be added to their property tax bills, Paine said.

Final payment of $12,178.55 will be made to Nowak Construction for sewer lines on the Groves project.

An ordinance was approved to set special assessment taxes at $125,455 to pay the bond.

Paine demonstrated how new trash bins would be picked up by a new truck. Recycling bins hold 64 gallons while regular waste bins hold 96.

Heavy items such as couches and appliances will be collected manually.

Hoping to take advantage of a planned US-50 detour onto US-56, Paine will work with economic development Anthony Roy to develop a plan to bring increased traffic and spending into town.

Thurston encouraged the public to be extra careful and aware of increased traffic.