Local News in Brief : Council Delays Vote on Budget

The Lawndale City Council has postponed until Aug. 18 a formal vote on the city’s $7-million budget for the fiscal year, which started July 1.

The council had been expected to vote Thursday on the budget informally adopted by the council in a rancorous session July 7. Instead, the council authorized a $400,000 appropriation to cover costs of employees’ salaries and City Hall operations.

At the July 7 budget meeting, Councilmen Harold E. Hofmann, Larry Rudolph and Dan McKenzie prevailed over Mayor Sarann Kruse and Councilwoman Carol Norman in cutting City Hall operations and eliminating a $45,000 allocation to the Chamber of Commerce. The 3-member majority stated it wanted to provide the leanest possible budget to help the city recover from a $1.68-million investment lost suffered last year.

But because the majority also favored additional sheriff’s protection and community safety programs, the city ended up with a budget that was about $24,000 more costly than the one proposed by City Manager Daniel P. Joseph. No vote was taken that night.

The council agreed Thursday to delay its formal adoption of the budget when Hofmann said he could not vote without asking some questions of the city manager, who was vacationing last week. Hofmann did not specify what areas of the budget he is concerned about, and he refused to elaborate after the meeting.