NATCHEZ — City aldermen approved a payment of $80,208 to a contractor involved in building Natchez-Adams County’s new aquatics center, putting the city approximately $29,000 over budget.

Those extraneous expenses will now come out of the city’s community development fund, which contains money the city received from Magnolia Bluffs Casino, City Clerk Megan Edmonds said Thursday.

Though Natchez had budgeted approximately $710,000 — with the county slated to cover the other half of the aquatics center’s total cost — Edmonds said questions arose around whether payments totaling $100,000 in 2016 actually went toward the pool or other recreation projects.

Regardless of that confusion, this last invoice to Wilmar Construction exhausted the city’s budget for the pool and forced aldermen to cover the remaining $29,000 using another source. Additionally, the city must pay two more invoices next month totaling approximately $52,000 to go toward pool expenses, Edmonds said. Officials have yet to identify the funding source to cover those expenses.

“We will have to look at some options for what the city is going to do with the two new invoices,” Edmonds said.

The center’s construction began in October, and the pool is set to officially open one week from today, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for this Wednesday.