Bowie City Manager Ricky Tow calls the 2014-15 budget proposal “conservative to tight,” but it also includes an option that could finance a new $3 million city administration building.

Council members will get their first look at the preliminary numbers when they meet in a budget workshop at 5:30 p.m. July 8 in the Bowie Community Center. As per the city charter, the official presentation of the overall budget proposal will take place at the July 15 regular meeting.

Tow called this a “maintenance year,” where they continue current operations; however, city officials also are looking at projects that need to be tackled for the future.

“It was the desire of the council to streamline from last year and they want to balance the budget as close as we could get. A big part of that is cutting down those utility transfers,” explained Tow.

Read the full story in the weekend News.