AUBURN - The city of Auburn is largely on target with the budget so far this fiscal year, with the notable exceptions of about $200,000 in additional costs for public safety salaries, because of overtime costs within the fire department, and the increased costs incurred from rising fuel prices.

City comptroller Lisa Green and city manager John Salomone presented a report at the city council meeting Thursday night indicating how close the city has been in meeting its budget in the first quarter.

The fire department has been pulling overtime on almost every shift because of short staffing, Green said. But three new firefighters are training at the academy now, and Green said the city may see some savings when they're placed on the regular work schedule.

The city also went overbudget by about $114,000 in the general fund for equipment and supplies for various departments, which was attributed largely to increased fuel costs.

Green said the solid-waste fund drew in a significant amount of revenue in the first quarter. Those revenues were about $189,000 higher than predicted.

“I can't say for sure this will continue,” she said. “We're getting quite a bit for contaminated soil for cover material (at the landfill).”

Also, because it was a dry summer, water sales were up from last summer, Salomone said.

Mayor Tim Lattimore questioned whether Green and Salomone were painting too rosy a picture of the city's budget situation down the road and said he was concerned about how the rising fuel costs would impact people's ability to pay their taxes on time.

Green said it was very difficult in the first quarter to predict how on-target the city would be at the end of the fiscal year.

“We didn't want to paint a rosy picture,” Salomone said.

In other business:

- Salomone discussed the city's water sales upon Lattimore's request. Lattimore filed a Freedom of Information Law request last Friday to determine how much water the city takes in versus how much it was paid for.

The city pumps about 7.5 million gallons a day on average, and about 4.4 million gallons a day are paid for. About 32 percent of the water is unaccounted for, according to the report. Salomone said in order to maintain the quality of water, some water will naturally be unaccounted for.

Frank DeOrio, director of municipal utilities, said the accepted percentage for unaccounted for water is about 15 percent. He said the older the system, the more likely it is to leak.

- Neighbors near the intersection of Pulaski and State streets spoke on behalf of reinstating the crossing guard or putting back the traffic light at the intersection.

“I know 15 kids down that way that walk to school every day,” said Kristi Sweeting of Auburn. “I think it is a safety hazard. Where it's 14, 15 or one kid, there needs to be something there.”

Barbara Giusti, who used to be a crossing guard at the intersection, said she believed either the light or crossing guard needed to be replaced at the intersection.

Vicki Trojnor, who approached council over the summer after the light was removed, questioned why the city was willing to spend $4 million on the Connector Road project, but was unable to spend $120,000 for the traffic light for a current road.

“The neighborhood wasn't asked its opinion in taking the light down,” she said.

Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net