The next year of spending is at the beginning stages of development in the city of Washington. Several projects and concepts are in discussion for the fiscal year that begins in July.  City Administrator Brent Hinson has started outlining highlights for the city council, which ultimately approves the budget decisions.

Hinson says in a memo to council members that he expects the total budget to be about 14-million dollars next year, which compares with 17-million for last year. Fewer capital expenditures are expected for next year. One big-ticket item would be a project at the Washington Municipal Airport.  About 3-point-8 million dollars would fund reconstruction of a runway.  The city expects the Federal Aviation Administration to fund about 90 percent of the cost of that work.

Other planned projects involve repaving or reconstruction of city roads including South Iowa, West Tyler, and East Madison.

Several aspects of the city’s water infrastructure have been targeted as needing repair or replacement, but no specific projects have been outlined for next year’s budget.  The city will know more after an engineering firm completes a facilities plan.