Autumn means budget season for local municipalities, and on Tuesday, Bradford City officials got a taste of what the 2019 budget might look like.

On Tuesday night, the city’s department heads appeared before city council at a work session about the next year’s finances.

Police Chief Chris Lucco led the evening.

One of the increases the police department is looking at are salary adjustments totaling $32,498, said Lucco. He noted the adjustments are contractual obligations, and $12,000 of that is the amount council agreed to pay toward the addition of another school resource officer.

Some items were listed as “optional operating expenses,” though Lucco noted, “There’s very little I can honestly say that is optional.” These included expenses such as overtime, vehicle maintenance and uniforms.

Lucco pointed out the budgeted amount of optional operating expenses only increased by half a percent and added that he believes the amount actually spent in 2019 will be lower.

The overall budget he’s asking for in 2019 is an increase of 2.3 percent — just over $33,000 — and is an increase of only $724 if one doesn’t consider the contractual obligations.

Right now, it appears the police department will end 2018 just under budget. Big purchases in 2018 included truck scales, a breathalyzer and vehicle repairs, as the department did not get a new police car last year. The department has hired a part-time mechanic.

In the fire department, Chief Eric Taylor also anticipates coming in under budget.

He indicated the 2018 budget was skewed because of the number of grants for which the department applied. Because the fire department was able to get some of the equipment it was seeking in 2018, Taylor won’t need to apply for so much grant funding in 2019.

“Looking forward to next year, I plan on keeping my budget pretty much the same,” said Taylor.

He noted that he is asking for a new medic unit, as the current one “is on its last legs.” He received an estimate of $31,000 for the unit.

On the ambulance side, Taylor said he anticipates coming in about $11,000 under budget this year.

Regarding revenue in the property maintenance department, inspector Kevin Huff said he anticipates finishing with $52,290 in registration fees. If he increases the fee by $10 per registration — from $35 to $45 — the department is looking at around $67,820 in fees for 2019.

For expenditures, Huff said that number is “pretty much dictated” by items such as staff wages and benefits.

The department allots $2,000 for education/training, but it hasn’t used any this year for training. Huff said the budget allowed for $1,500 in supplies, but it looks like they will only use about $1,200. Also, they decreased the amount spent on clothing from the budget. The department budgeted $1,500 for contractual services but hasn’t used any of it this year.

Mike Cleveland, health director, talked about revenues and expenses in the code enforcement department.

Under revenue, he said it’s difficult to anticipate how much the city will receive in building permits and inspection fees, as they’re based on development in the city, which varies from year to year. He mentioned multiple businesses he has worked with on projects that did not go as anticipated.

Meanwhile, residential has stayed “fairly steady from one year to the next,” said Cleveland. While each month was different this year, overall it is about where it should be. Restaurant and rooming house inspections and licenses for the year are about where he would expect, too.

In 2019, he is planning for $15,000 from permits and $17,500 from inspections.

Regarding expenses, Cleveland said his requests are about the same as last year. There are increases in the cost of worker’s compensation, health benefits and contractual obligations. He’s asking for $8,000 for the emergency demolition fund — it was previously $6,000 — but noted that it’s been several years since the department has had to use it.

Cleveland is asking for a new computer that he anticipates will cost between $300 and $400.

He does anticipate his department coming in under budget this year.

Dan Tyger, city electrician, said, “I’m pretty well within budget except for street lighting,” an expense which he said is over about every year. He noted the city will be installing LED lights, which should help with the expense.

Traffic lights went over budget a little, too, due to the rates going up.

Chip Comilla, director of parks and public works, was the last to speak.

Comilla said the refuse department costs are currently 1.3 percent over budget for the year, the department of public works is 3.7 percent under budget and the parks department is 6.45 percent under budget.

One of the higher-than-projected refuse costs was overtime for maintenance that was happening over the weekend.

He noted there was more overtime for road maintenance due to the heavy winter weather. During the 2017-18 winter, the city saw 27 more days of snow and used 403 more tons of salt than in the past. The first snow was Nov. 11, 2017, and the last was April 19.

The public works department is about $20,000 under budget for road and sidewalk materials, as the Bradford Sanitary Authority has asked the city to do less work with catch basins. The street sweeper maintenance and supplies budget will be cut in 2019, too.

Comilla said he plans to order a new truck using liquid fuels funding. The estimated cost of a Ford F-150 with a plow package is $62,000. In 2018, he used liquid fuels funding to purchase a walk-behind street saw for $2,300 and a line-painting machine for $8,900.

He is asking to purchase a John Deere mower for about $3,600 for the parks department, too.