The town of Abita Springs introduced a 2010 budget Tuesday night that on first glance looks dramatically different than in years past; however the guts of it remains relatively the same.

The biggest difference is that the overall $3.03 million budget includes two smaller budgets thanks to taxpayers recently rededicating three mills of property tax toward lighting and parks. This resulted in a $38,000 budget dedicated to park expenses and a $19,000 budget dedicated to street lighting.

Outside of that, the proposed budget includes a $22,000 cemetery fund and a $1.598 million utility fund. Mayor Louis Fitzmorris has estimated the revenue the city receives from utilities to decrease slightly from the $1.61 million budgeted for 2009. Town Clerk Donna Kilpatrick attributes the decrease to reduced gas costs.

“Last year our gas prices were outrageous,” Kilpatrick said, but added that they are starting to finally level off.

The general fund budget is up only slightly from $1.27 million in 2009 to a proposed $1.27 million for 2010.

Fitzmorris is proposing a slight increase in the money earned through sales tax, licenses and permits.

Kilpatrick said much of this increase is due to the opening of the new Walgreens at the corner of Harrison Avenue. While the Walgreens was open this year, Kilpatrick said the town did not collect sales tax from it for the whole year.

While sales tax is picking back up, Kilpatrick said, revenue raised from building inspections and fees has decreased due to less homes being built.

This resulted in a $23,600 decrease in that line item. However, the projected revenue from grants is up for 2010.

The town is currently doing the final paperwork to accept $92,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds from the state.

This money will be used to make repairs and improvements to the town’s water and gas systems. Much of this money will be used to add shut off valves for the town’s gas system.

“We learned during Hurricane Katrina that we did not have enough valves to shut down the system, and we didn’t know where all of the valves were,” Fitzmorris said. “Because there were very few ways to shut down parts of the system, we had to shut down the whole system to make repairs.”

His said this grant will give the town the money to install new valves as well as map out the system so workers will know where the valves are located.

Fitzmorris said he plans to do the same thing for the town’s water system, but added that because of safety, “gas is a priority.”

The town is also signing a cooperative endeavor agreement with state to accept a $20,000 grant earmarked to make sewer repairs along Sixth Street off St. Charles Street near the Tammany Trace.

Fitzmorris said the lines in this area is part of the older system installed in the 1930s, and a lot of these lines are made of terracotta and are 8-10 feet underground. Fitzmorris said he likes to bid out projects like this because they are dangers and time consuming.

The town is also completing the paperwork for a $30,000 capital outlay grant which will be used to address problem lift stations, specifically the Gordon Street lift station

The town also received a $10,000 grant, which will be used to increase size of maintenance facility with the purchase of a 10-foot by 50-foot metal building with a slab.

The town is still negotiating with the parish concerning the use of the now-defunct Sewer District 6 plant, which is located adjacent to the town’s existing plant. The town would like to take control of the plant and keep it operational to use incase its plant shuts down.

Fitzmorris said it would only be used during an emergency situation, and the town is still negotiating with the parish on the issue.