The Ridgeway Town Council held its first reading of their proposed 2010-2011 budget Wednesday night, working with what Mayor Charlene Herring called their tightest numbers in years.

After voting 4-1 to cut $13,000 out of their expenses by eliminating their night security contract, the first reading passed, also on a vote of 4-1.

The lone dissenting vote in both matters, councilman Rufus Jones, said he remains dissatisfied with the results.

“I’m not satisfied with the budget,” Jones said. “We’re spending money we don’t have.”

During the meeting, Jones made the argument that the town would be better served by eliminating the police department instead, and handing the town’s security duties over completely to an outside security service.

Councilman Jim Chandler disagreed.

“We need police protection in this town,” he said. “If we’re going to cut, we need to cut somewhere else.”

While the proposed budget has been balanced, with $295,020 in income and expenses, Jones said the town was relying on “false money.” That money, he explained later, comes largely from an insurance settlement the town received when the auditorium was damaged in a storm last year.

“It’s only a matter of time,” Jones said, “and we’ll be in the red.”

The police department, which consists of a single police chief, accounts for the lion’s share of the town’s expenses, totaling $130,016 in the proposed budget. The recently eliminated Wade Security, meanwhile, saved the town $13,000.

“It’s the tightest budget we’ve ever had,” Herring said. “It’s like that in towns all across the state. We’ll have to be very conscious of how we spend.”

To make up for the lost night security, Herring said, the town would have to vary the shifts in which their police chief would work.

“That’s a big mistake,” Jones said. “We’ll be doing more with less.”