The Mentone Town Council met at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 16, to discuss its budget for the upcoming year. The council suggested a few places to cut funds if its budget is over too much at the official budget meeting next month.

Overall the general budget was increased $30,000 from last year’s budget. Last year the town had to cut $34,000 when the budget was officially presented. They are anticipating cuts again so the council members chose three areas they could cut if money becomes tight.

The first area is sidewalks and trees, the second area is new equipment and the third is  the storm sewage fund.

Most of the budget remained the same. LRS fund stayed the same at $18,200. MVH increased $5,500 because more money was allocated toward limestone funding. Limestone is used to fix the roadways and other areas. CCD added $60,000 to machinery and equipment because the fire department hopes to purchase a used tanker in the next year.

The CCI fund was increased to $5,000 after being cut last year to $3,686. The cemetery fund was increased $1,000 because the town plans to add a fence around the old cemetery within the next year.

The riverboat fund more than doubled from $7,000 to $15,000. An additional $8,000 was placed into the storm sewers fund. Due to adding money in this fund, the council agreed storm sewers in the general fund could be cut if it had no other options.

The decisions are temporary and are not final. Barb Ross, Mentone deputy clerk, has to present its budget to be approved. At last year’s meeting cuts had to be made. The meeting Tuesday evening was purely a discussion of where to allocate funds and where to cut them if needed.