Killeen City Council hears input on budget - KXXV Central Texas News Now

The Killeen City council has until Sept. 20 to adopt the budget for the fiscal year 2018 which begins Oct. 1. 

Killeen City Manager Ron Olson says he's been working with members "in house" to provide the best budget for the city.

"The most important part of this budget is that we are delivering a balanced budget to the city council for their consideration," Olson said. 

A balanced budget that totals more than 181 million dollars, and though that seems like a lot of residents are concerned, it's not enough to cover everything the city needs, including public safety.

But Olson said safety will be at the forefront of the budget just as it always has been.

"Public safety is a priority for Killeen, for our city council and for the residents. You can't spend more money than you have so we have what we have."

And what the city has is 65 percent of the budget designated to public safety.

"They are getting the same percentage of resources that they have historically gotten," Olson said. 

And as of now, the other 35 percent will be divided between a number of things.

"All of the other support services in the city, the court, the finance, the HR department, the fleet operations, all out of the general fund are continuing to operate," Olson added. 

And though the proposed budget is not set in stone Olson believes that "the financial condition of the city is the heart of our operation."

And he said fixing a budget that was broken is something that will happen one beat at a time.

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