In late February, Jefferson City revealed it was facing a nearly $1.7 million dollar budget shortfall. Jefferson City Council members Monday voted unanimously in favor of bill 2012-148 which adjusts the city’s 2012-2013 budget.
The bill is a product of the city council’s special budget meeting last week. It includes cuts to every department and roughly an 8 percent employee reduction, according to Jefferson City Administrator Nathan Nickolaus.
“I’m very pleased,” Nickolaus said. “We responded, we came up with the solutions and we’re ready to move forward now.”
Jefferson City Councilman Shawn Schulte says he hopes the city can avoid another substantial shortfall.
“I think it’s just a continual process and we need to watch that,” Schulte said. I think there will be challenges, but going into it now we can address it sooner rather than later”
Now that the bill has passed, Jefferson City council must implement and maintain it. And, the council is already looking toward the next fiscal year.