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Stephanie Wiechmann
Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour has proposed a total budget of about $ 51 million. It's a smaller total than previous city budgets, and as Ridenour says, it's balanced.

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Dan Ridenour
That leaves us $ 4,581 positive in total spending. So if the council wants to spend more in some one area, they've got to spend less somewhere else.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
The proposal puts more than $ 300,000 more into the rainy day fund than previous budgets. Right now, he says, Muncie is planning for 2022 when he says the city will see less in income taxes because of current pandemic related unemployment. The mayor wants to weather the coming storm with a goal in mind.

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Dan Ridenour
My main objective is I do not want any full time employees to lose their jobs in any department.

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Stephanie Wiechmann
For city streets, Ridenour says he's taking politics out of what gets paved. His administration has made a six year plan, using an independent study from 2017 listing each street's condition on a ten point scale.

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Dan Ridenour
And it ranks them from ten, which is the best, to zero, which is. This is ridiculous. Needs to be replaced immediately. And we're starting with the worst streets. And then the next year, we're doing the next worst streets and the next worst streets.

00;01;12;25 - 00;01;30;27
Stephanie Wiechmann
The city will also make sidewalk improvements and put down new sidewalks in asphalt rather than concrete to get more miles for the money. The city Council now takes up the budget proposal at its September 14th meeting. Ridenour says he expects the council will tweak some figures as members consider it. In Muncie, Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.