Tonight, city council will dig into the budgeting process for fiscal year 2014.

City manager Chris Hladick will present a list of financial goals for council to consider. In a memo, Hladick says the city will have to plan around federally-mandated updates to its utilities. The projects will drain the enterprise budget, and that might carry over to the personnel budget. Hladick says Unalaska will have to bring on two new full-time employees to manage and operate the utility plants. To help out, Hladick says the utilities should aim for self-sufficiency as soon as possible. Right now, they run at a loss.

Council will vote on a resolution to adopt those budget goals. The councilors will also review the city’s finances for the month of January, and they’ll vote on a $5 million budget amendment meant to defray some of Unalaska’s capital projects.

Most of the money in this package comes from the state, to help fund Unalaska’s new wastewater treatment plant. The other $800,000 would come from city coffers to fund the last pieces of the new emergency mooring buoy, along with road repaving projects. Public safety, fire and rescue, and PCR would also receive grants.

Council meets at 7 p.m. in their chambers at City Hall.