CARBONDALE - Members of the Carbondale City Council will convene for their first meeting in a month tonight and they do so with a full agenda.

The public will get its first look at city's audit which will offer a clearer picture of how the local economy is fairing. With 43 percent of the city's revenues coming from sales tax and retail sales down throughout the nation the audit will provide specific numbers from last year as a basis for comparison.

Council Member Chris Wissmann said the audit is not necessarily a predictor of things to come.

"It provides a clear picture of the city's budget last year and a confirmation of the numbers we claimed square with reality," Wissmann said. "One of the things we have to be cognizant of is that while it may not indicate what happened in this year or the next year but past is prologue."

Wissmann said that the city is fortunate to not be dependant on property tax given the plummeting real estate market.

Also before the council is the city's proposed contract with Chicago-based PAR Group to help draft the city's revamped comprehensive plan. The updates would be the first to the plan since 1997 and just the second since 1979.

Prior to the council meeting, the council members will consider a pair of measures in their role as the Liquor Control Commission.

Among them is council member Lance Jack's bid for a class A1 license for his Illinois Ave. restaurant. The class A1 license allows the sale of wine and beer.

blackwell.thomas@thesouthern.com

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