CAMDEN — By Bradly Gill
The City of Camden Board of Alderman passed the 2019 budget for the City of Camden at Monday night’s City Council meeting and most of the numbers are roughly the same as the 2018 budget.
While the city had a budget of $ 7,2239,942 the budget for 2019 is down $51,671 at $7,188,271.
The mayor will earn a salary of $63,851 for his work, which is on par with a national average for mayors of $60,275 according to the site payscale.com. The assistant mayor will earn $50,556.
The Camden Police Department will have an operating budget of $2,677,052 with The Chief of Police earning $60,237.
The Camden Fire Department will have an operating budget of $2,223,294 with the Chief earning $60,237. Overall fire and police salaries are up 15% in order for the departments to be more competitive with other area agencies.
The Camden Municipal airport will have an operating budget of $168,285 up slightly from $158,660 but still less than the estimated 2018 budget of $187,530.
A $100,000 expenditure has been budgeted for economic development which is matched by a $100,000 line item from the Ouachita County Quorum court for the Ouachita Partnership for Economic Development.
The budget list expected revenue from the local option sales tax as $2,091,151 up slightly from 2018’s $2,05,148.