The city of Montgomery approved cuts to its 2020-21 budget at its July 28 meeting in response to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in about $180,000 in cuts from city departments.

City Administrator Richard Tramm said city departments have been reviewing their internal budgets since the beginning of the pandemic to reduce expenditures. City income has been adjusted from about $4.08 million to about $4.01 million, a nearly 3% decrease. City expenditures have been cut from about $4.2 million to about $4.02 million, a 4.3% decrease.

“We’ve tried to reflect fairly well what we believe will happen on the expenditures categories,” Tramm said. “We’ve tried to be conservative at least for the most part on the income categories, leaving out there the chance that there could be some sort of a shutdown or something else that restricts the economy.”

The city's police, public works and courts departments cut funds for various line items, including contracts, park maintenance, community relations and furniture. These line items still exist, but at reduced costs. Other costs, such as technology, have risen.

Tramm said although the city unexpectedly received more than $365,000 from Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements for the city’s Atkins Creek project, this was not enough to prevent budget cuts. However, he suggested the city could begin a savings fund for long-term savings and projects.

The full list of expenditures and income streams may be viewed on the city’s website.