WHEELING, W.Va. –

City Manager Robert Herron proposed a $30.64 million general operating budget to City Council this week.

The budget is slightly more than last year's $29.89 million.

"Hotel, motel tax was up a bit, so was business and Occupation tax," said Herron.

For another year, the city was able to balance their budget.

"This doesn't include any pay raises, or capital improvement projects to the city. We always discuss those once we see what the cash carryover is come July 1. This is to simply assure the residents that the city government will go on once we start a new fiscal year," said Herron.

The biggest challenges during the budget season Herron noted were the increase in health care costs and paying into the police and fire departments pension funds, which increase each year by 7 percent.

"We're thankful that every year we can balance our budget and I think we do that being very conservative, not having outstanding debt, and we don't rely on any state funding," said Herron.

The City Council will start budget workshop sessions next week, in hopes to pass the budget by their second meeting in March.