NATCHEZ &045; Aldermen agreed Wednesday to transfer $32,000 from the sale of surplus property to cover the Recreation Department’s estimated budget shortfall for the rest of the fiscal year.

This year, as in recent years, the cost of fuel, utilities and repairs has gone up while revenues, mostly from golf, have fallen, Recreation Director Ralph Tedder said.

Alderman Theodore &uot;Bubber&uot; West questioned why $10,000 in repairs and upgrades to such things as restrooms and bleachers were recently made when the department’s budget is so tight.

It’s because those facilities &uot;are 10 years old, and it needed to be done,&uot; Tedder said, noting that if they aren’t, aldermen and the mayor receive the complaints.

And Tedder said his budget will probably need to go up $50,000 for next year.

The only solution for the short-term problem, said City Clerk Donnie Holloway, is to take the money from public properties and reimburse it as soon as possible during the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

While emphasizing the need for Tedder to cut costs whether possible, Alderman West &045; along with Alderman and Mayor Pro Tem David Massey &045;said cutting the city’s losses by privatizing the golf course would be its best bet.

&uot;Send out requests for proposals,&uot; Massey said.

Tedder said the city’s Recreation Council is also behind that idea.