NATCHEZ &045; It’s budget time again for the City of Natchez &045; and with falling revenues, city officials must to decide where they can cut expenditures the most while affecting services the least.

On Tuesday afternoon, aldermen began to meet at City Hall with department heads to review department’s budget requests for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Those meetings will continue today. The budget must be approved by Sept. 15.

Much of Tuesday’s work session was done in executive session because it dealt with personnel &045; an exemption allowed under state law.

But the open portions of the session revealed at least some of the proposed cuts &045; as well as the expenditures department heads propose to keep.

For example, Public Works Director Richard Burke wants to reinstate three of the five public works positions that were eliminated this fiscal year due to budget cuts.

Burke has said that it is difficult for his department to complete all its tasks without those personnel, although temporarily workers have helped some this year.

Other items of note include contract services, which will fall from $117,000 this year to $87,000 for next year.

That is because the revised budget for this fiscal year included an unexpected $90,000 expenditure to fix a large sinkhole in front of the post office on Canal Street.

&uot;We’re hoping not to have anything like that this (next fiscal) year,&uot; Burke said.

At the same time, Burke wants to include in his contract services budget for 2003-2004 enough funds to spray roadside grass, which he said is almost impossible to keep down otherwise.

His proposed budget also includes $30,000 for mosquito control &045; a big issue in recent years due to the West Nile virus.

But the public works proposed budget would also include a slight increase in garbage fees &045; a 2.3 percent hike due to the consumer price index.

And Alderman and Mayor Pro Tem David Massey, who chairs the Board of Aldermen’s Public Works Committee, said, if possible, he wants to see $20,000 added to the budget for speed bumps.

In a subsequent work session dealing with the Police Department’s budget, Police Chief Mike Mullins said he is for make cuts were possible but &uot;doing it without cutting services.&uot;

Proposed cuts for that department for the next fiscal year include lowering the maintenance budget from $12,000 to $9,000 and the operating supplies budget from $45,000 to $38,000.

Mullins also said he proposes saving $13,000 by not purchasing new vehicles and reducing the budget for uniforms and related equipment from $25,000 to $20,000.

&uot;We’ll just wear them a little bit longer,&uot; Mullins said.

He also said he is proposing to reduce the budget for radio maintenance from $6,000 to $4,500 &uot;because E-911 just got (us) new radios.&uot;

However, he did request $60,000 extra for personnel &045; namely, pay for three officers who were on active duty most of this year but are expected to return during the 2003-2004 fiscal year.