The Methuen City Council passed the 2009 Municipal Budget last night. I have posted that budget on this blog, and will post the final adopted budget in the next day or so. The major changes in the budget were the addition of $400,000 to the Fire Department budget, the addition of $90,000 to the Police Budget, and the addition of $10,000 to the vocational school budget. The addition of $500,000 should be covered by new revenue growth, leaving Methuen in the unique position of having 2.5 million dollars in unused levy capacity. I appreciate the willingness of the City Council to work proactively with me on this budget, and although we obviously don’t agree on all items the process was productive and courteous. Congratulations to City Auditor Tom Kelly and staff, who did a wonderful job in working out the budgetary numbers. There are still many budget challenges facing Methuen and all of the other localities in Massachusetts, but I believe that this budget meets the needs of Methuen taxpayers and provides an acceptable level of service to our residents.