At their meeting Monday night, the Russellville City Council passed an $8.7 million operating budget for FY 2013-2014, which began in October.

Russellville Mayor David Grissom said even though the budget was extremely tight, he felt like it provided for necessary services.

“We have worked with all of the department heads to make sure that we are still able to provide essential city services to our citizens in the most efficient and cost effective way possible,” Grissom said.

“Getting this budget completed was something that required teamwork from all our city departments, and I appreciate the hard work by everyone involved.”

The expenses were based on actual expenses from the previous fiscal year with cuts made where necessary, Grissom said.

“Most all of the appropriations remained the same,” Grissom said. “The biggest thing we tried to do is just streamline our operations so that our city services would still be effective but they would also be economical.”

The budget allowed for an appropriation to the city schools, which Grissom said was a top priority.

“We are always glad to support our schools,” Grissom said.

“We appreciate Superintendent Rex Mayfield and the school board for working with us, and we are glad that the budget allowed for us to continue to support the schools for this fiscal year.”

Councilman Jamie Harris said he believed that the budget is one the city can work with.

“Even though things are tight, all of our department heads are working with us to stay within their budget and that’s what it’s going to take,” Harris said.

Grissom added that the council was optimistic about the new opportunities the current fiscal year would hold as well.

“We will have more than 500 jobs coming into the city by the end of this fiscal year, and we are hopeful that this will pose a significant increase in our sales tax revenue,” Grissom said.

“This is a work in progress, but I believe we are at a good starting point, especially in light of all the potential growth we hope to see this year.”