Highland Heights Council President Votes Against Budget

Highland Heights Council President Scott Mills voted against approving the city's 2011 budget at Tuesday's council meeting.

"I don't think we put enough in there for infrastructure," said Mills, who also said three weeks is not enough time for a proper budget review and the administration should have presented council with a budget sooner.

Mills cast the only dissenting vote and the $16.3 million budget, which must be passed by March 31, was approved by a 6-1 margin.

"We presented a balanced budget," Mayor Scott Coleman said. "I'm proud of the work the department heads did."

He added that the budget can be adjusted throughout the year and more money can be directed toward infrastructure improvements.

"We have a $5 million general fund balance," he said.

Mills, who is challenging Coleman for election this fall, said during his announcement that he was running for mayor that he would make infrastructure a priority.

He said Tuesday that the $325,000 budgeted for road repairs wasn't enough, especially since $38,000 of that was for striping and another $35,000 for guardrails.

Mills also objected to $175,000 being spent on renovations to a pool house and said the city should consider less-expensive options such as a new pole barn. Instead of spending money on the pool house, the entrance to Highland Heights City Park should be higher on the priority list, he said.

Councilwoman Cathy Murphy said the entrance, which is deteriorating and has safety issues due to sightlines, is a priority. However, she said more study needs to be done before any work can be started.

"I just think there's a lot of thought that has to go into it," she said. "It's not really ripe for doing at this point in time."