NATCHEZ &8212; Given sales tax revenues for the last two months that were up more than $100,000 over the same period last year, and with a little belt tightening, Mayor Phillip West believes the city can end the fiscal year with a balance of up to $500,000.

West&8217;s comments followed an announcement at Tuesday&8217;s aldermen work session

that sales tax revenues for August and September were up almost $127,000 over the same months in 2004.

&8220;That&8217;s just a goal,&8221; West later said of the $500,000 figure.

West wouldn&8217;t speculate on possible future uses of such an ending balance for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. &8220;It would just put us in a better financial position,&8221; West said.

The increase in sales tax revenues &8212; up more than 26 percent for September alone &8212; can be attributed in large part to an influx of evacuees following Hurricane Katrina in late August, city officials noted.

West said he expects the trend of higher revenues to continue into the next month, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale.

But the half-a-million-dollar goal won&8217;t come without a little sacrifice. West said that during the executive session portion of Tuesday&8217;s work session, the aldermen who were present directed him and City Clerk Donnie Holloway to study the budget the city passed in September to see which of city departments&8217; requests could be postponed until after this fiscal year to make that fund balance happen.

Such items could include a step pay raise for the Fire Department, something city officials have said they&8217;d like to put in place this fiscal year, but West said aldermen will have to make that decision. Such raises are expected to cost about $60,000, West said after Tuesday&8217;s meeting.

Just two months ago, aldermen passed a budget that included a property tax increase of 5.5 mills, among other measures, to help cover budget shortfalls.