Based on what was presented Thursday, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen still have a lot of work to do on the city’s proposed fiscal 2016 budget.

The proposed $41 million general fund budget is an odd mix, with a deficit and $14 million in bonds money and loans included as revenue.

The $14 million does not actually figure into the city’s operating budget, because it is money that is already dedicated to different projects, such as the $9.2 million bond issue for capital improvements and items like equipment and new fire department pumpers, and will not be used for city operations.

Pull that money out, and the city’s actual operating budget is $27 million for the fiscal year. The board did the same thing last year, when it included one-time funds in the 2015 budget, boosting its total to $32 million, when the operating budget was actually $29 million.

But the major issue with the proposed budget is the $561,209 deficit that has not been addressed and needs to be resolved before Sept. 15, when, according to state law, the board must approve the budget to go into effect Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year.

It would seem the board would have taken care of the projected deficit before it presented the proposed budget at a public hearing Thursday night. Faced with a projected $1 million shortfall for fiscal 2015, the board held a series of meetings to find ways to cut costs and bring the budget in line.

But with about two weeks before has to approve the new budget, no one has said anything about a meeting to look at trimming it.

“We’re going to have to make some cuts and get us down to where we have a balanced budget. This is a raw version,” Alderman Willis Thompson said. “The mayor has a committee advising him on the budget. I’m looking at the budget every day and so is Mr. (Alderman Michael) Mayfield, and we’ll come together before the deadline and agree on those things that can stay and those things that can come out of the budget.”

Mayfield said he has met with Accounting Director Doug Whittington to examine potential action to trim the budget.

“I feel good that we will get there, that we will be balanced. We’re confident when we put our signatures on it, it will be right,” he said.

While neither alderman has indicated when the board will meet to discuss the proposed budget and resolve the shortfall, Thompson acknowledges capital items, such as equipment and vehicles, will be the main targets of any cuts.

“We’ll just have to set priorities,” he said.

The board needs to meet soon and resolve its deficit problem without using any more one-time funds. The state mandated deadline is about two weeks away. It’s time to take action and get a viable, realistic budget.