Chesterfield Council OKs 2% Spending Hike for New Year

Chesterfield's City Council voted unanimously Monday night to increase spending 2 percent in the new year, for a budget of $18.75 million.

At the same time, City Administrator Michael Herring showed anticipated revenue up 2 percent in 2012 for Chesterfield.

City revenue is made up of:

• utility taxes  
• sales tax
• intergovernmental transfers
• licenses and permits
• court receipts
• other revenues
• charges for services

City expenditures for 2012 and percent of total budget include:

• police   43.7%
• planning and public works   37.9%
• finance and administration  14.2%
• economic development, community service, customer service   3.8%
• executive and legislative   0.4%

City council members accepted the budget proposal from city administrators without discussion, after previous budget workshops overseen by Herring.

Herring has prepared city budgets over the past 20 years, since the city's founding.

The council also agreed for the first time to spend $40,000 on year-end bonus grocery gift cards of $200 to each of 200 city employees.

There was minimal support to reduce the bonus to $100, and was kept at $200 after a motion failed to pass.