The city of Argo is still pinching pennies, but should have enough money to weather the financial drought they’re currently in.

Metro Bank has agreed to lend the city $100,000 to make up for a cash shortage until tax revenues start coming in early next year.

“This loan, in my opinion, isn’t to be thrown into the mix and spent up right away. This will be spent last,” Jennings said. “It’s a safe gap to get us up to the end of the year.”

The loan will be paid back in one lump sum by Feb. 15, but Jennings said an interest rate has not been agreed upon yet.

“It took about a month to get them to agree to [loan the money]. I was basically begging them to get to borrow the money,” Jennings told the council Wednesday.

The board also approved the payment of the city’s bills. Like last month, a selection of bills were not paid due to the cashflow issues.

While the short-term fix is now in place, the city’s long-term financial future is still up in the air.

The city has approximately $100,000 in cuts to make for the fiscal year, which started Oct. 1. By cutting the court clerk position, the city freed up an estimated $30,000.

To keep the ball rolling, Councilman Bill Rutledge suggested further savings by cutting the $200 monthly salary afforded to all of the councilmen, as well as $200 of the mayor’s monthly salary.

“We’re all fortunate enough to have jobs outside this, but the people we’re dealing with, this is their job,” Rutledge said. “If we can keep from laying people off, it’s worth it.”

However, Councilman Steve Medori was skeptical of the concept.  

“I think that sets a very bad precedent,” he said. “You get what you pay for, and if you pay nothing, you get nothing… There are plenty of good people out here that would serve on the council in the future if they could get compensation to cover their expenses, which about all it does.”

Medori continued that it was a stretch to cut the councilmembers’ salaries when it wouldn’t solve the budget issue.  

However, a combination of the savings from the city clerk position and cutting council salaries, nearly half of the budget deficit is accounted for. But an additional $60,000 of cuts could be hard to come by.

The council asked Police Chief James Downing and Fire Chief Mike Platts where they could possibly cut $30,000 from each of their budgets.

Downing volunteered to cut a police officer position that is being vacated, covering their portion of the cuts.

The fire department, however, is in a more precarious situation. Expenses like a truck payment can’t be reduced, and if salaries or staffing are reduced any further, they will lose Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant money.

The most feasible solution during the work session seemed to be a percentage cut across all city departments, including the city council.

Jennings suggested the council take all the options into consideration, think on them at home for the next few days, and reconvene at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday to further discuss the city’s options.

“The longer we wait, the worse this gets,” Jennings said.