The Albert Lea city council is pushing it.

A budget that was crafted by the last council is not fitting for the new council, which has spent discretionary funds on new programs and town festivals &045; despite one of the largest cuts in state-funded local government aid (LGA) in recent years

&uot;There have been a lot of things that have been done that were not budgeted for,&uot; said City Manager Paul Sparks. He listed mosquito spraying, cleaning up the old waste water treatment site at Frank Hall Park, the Celebrate Albert Lea festival and the council retreat are among items on which the council has spent its budget.

The $177,210 council budget is a small portion of the $12 million city budget, but it is set aside for projects the council chooses. But with the council’s budget almost expended, they being forced to consider dipping into the city’s contingency fund, which is a $357,852 fund set up for all city departments to tap for unforeseen projects.

Monday night, the council gave the Big Island Rendezvous $2,500, dropping the council budget to $36,000, which is supposed to last through the end of the year.

Sparks said half of the contingency fund is also gone, mostly due to unexpected revenue shortfalls for utility cost hikes, as well as the balancing of a $750,000 LGA cut from the state.

Sparks said the contingency fund is usually set aside for emergencies and unanticipated infrastructure needs, like the replacement of the traffic light at Bridge Avenue and Marshall Street.

Sparks said the council is not necessarily bad with money, but rather, has a lot of pressure to do more.

&uot;There’s just a difference in priorities,&uot; he said.

City Councilor George Marin agrees.

&uot;I think its a more progressive council than we’ve had in the past,&uot; Marin said. &uot;The past councils have been more conservative.&uot;

He said in the coming months, the council will likely become much more wary of expenses.

&uot;We have to be prudent from here on out,&uot; he said.

Marin has questioned many local organizations’s requests for money for their projects, and sometimes voted against them. But he said, overall, the money that has been spent has been worthwhile.

He also said that things like cleaning up the old waste-water treatment plant site at Frank Hall Park and the council retreat were worthwhile and are examples of money well spent.

He added that the progress made with projects like those will be beneficial over the long term.

&uot;It will all balance out,&uot; he said.

(Contact Peter Cox at peter.cox@albertleatribune.com or 379-3439.)