NATCHEZ — Natchez aldermen passed Tuesday a balanced budget with a projected $93,000 cash balance for the upcoming 2016-2017 fiscal year.

Interim City Clerk Melissa Hawk said the budget includes $30,549,003 in projected revenues and $30,455,277 in projected expenditures.

The aldermen, Mayor Darryl Grennell and Hawk have wrestled with the balancing the budget in multiple meetings over the past few weeks, in the face of reports of overspending by as much as $1 million in the current and previous fiscal years and terminating its former city clerk.

The aldermen ultimately decided to dedicate approximately $763,000 of its $1 million annual lease payment to cover a deficit in the general fund, which is essentially the funding that operates the city.

The general fund is approximately $14.42 million.

The budget included appropriations for the Natchez City Cemetery Association and Natchez Festival of Music at less than the organizations requested, Ward 6 Alderman Dan Dillard pointed out to Hawk.

The aldermen had agreed to not cut the cemetery’s appropriation back to its previous amount of $40,000 from $72,000 after the cemetery association made a plea at a budget hearing. The aldermen had also agreed to double only for next year the $5,000 music festival appropriation.

Since the appropriations were less than 10 percent of the budget, the overall budget can be amended to reflect the increased appropriations, Hawk said.

Dillard said he would be carefully looking to ensure the amended budget included the increased appropriations.

Dillard also pointed out the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, is the first year the city set aside millage for maintenance and upkeep of public properties at 1.174 mills, which is approximately $144,000.