By MONROE ROARK
mroark@thecitizennews.com

The Fayetteville City Council Monday night approved a budget of just over $7 million, and officials are predicting a slight millage decrease as a result of the ever-growing tax digest.

The general fund budget of $7.1 million represents a 1.15-percent increase over the 2000 fiscal year, according to city finance and administration director Lynn Raven.

The new budget allows for a 5-percent increase in personnel spending to fund a pay-for-performance salary plan. Initial plans to combine a smaller pay-for-performance allotment with an across-the-board cost-of-living increase were rejected by the City Council, which chose to give the various department heads the authority to tie all pay increases to performance.

The city is forecasting a 7-percent hike in the tax digest, a figure Raven called “conservative.” Based on one mill equalling $391,423, the FY2001 millage is expected to be about 3.31 mills, with 2.59 for the general fund and .75 for the capital projects fund. The millage for 2000 was 3.34.

Six new positions have been funded in the new budget. The fire and water/sewer departments will each add an administrative clerk, and two distribution workers are slated for the water/sewer department as well. Other new positions include a school resource officer in the police department and an accounting supervisor in the finance/administration department.

Total revenues from the city's six different funds — general, water/sewer, solid waste/recycling, capital projects, impact fee, and cemetery trust — are expected to reach $15 million in the coming year.