Before the new fiscal year even begins, the Wartburg City Council is looking to cut more than $52,000 from the 2017-18 budget. The council met this week in regular session and began looking at line item expenditures for cuts to the budget which has not even been finalized. The issue is that the city will be borrowing $150,000 to purchase the former Regions Bank building, which will then house City Hall and other offices. That loan is to be paid back over a three-year period with a $52,528 payment being due out of next year’s budget. Council members discussed budget cuts for more than two hours at their meeting this week and managed to whittle down $11,700 from the total needed to balance the budget. Immediate cuts were to line items including supplies, phone and uniform fees, among others. Potentially cutting employee raises and the annual Christmas bonuses was debated at length, but no final decision has yet been made. The Wartburg City Council will meet again this upcoming Monday (June 19, 2017) at 6 p.m. to cut just over $41,000 more from the budget. The city has until July 1, 2017 to make the final cuts and approve the budget for the next fiscal year.