PORT ANGELES – Faced with a “bare bones” 2008 budget that doesn’t include such small items as carpet repairs at the fire station, the City Council is looking to make additional cuts.

City Manager Mark Madsen and Finance Director Yvonne Ziomkowski introduced the approximately $17 million preliminary budget and desired supplemental items to the council Monday night at a special meeting at Lincoln Center.

Although the 2008 budget calls for spending $254,966 more than this year’s, it is actually tighter because of inflation, cost of living increases and unfunded mandates, Madsen said.

“This budget is the absolute bare bones,” he said.

“We stripped it down as far as we were comfortable doing.

“In fact, some of the department heads weren’t at all comfortable with it because we know that overtime, for example, will probably run over what we have estimated.”