The Aberdeen City Council postponed final approval of the 2017 budget Wednesday night.

Council members instead opted to conduct a second budget workshop Monday at 6 p.m. and approve the document on the evening of Dec. 28, during the next regular meeting. All of the council members were instructed by Mayor Erik Larson to submit their budget questions before the meeting so staff could have the answers ready by Monday.

Some council members have lingering questions about specific budget items, said Council member Denny Lawrence, who also heads the council’s Finance Committee.

“They have questions about the city administrator position,” he said. “Some want it completely eliminated from the budget.”

The proposed city administrator job was funded for only the final three months of 2017 in the most recent iteration of the budget in late November.

Others on the council want to know more about the proposed rental property inspector position, which was removed from the budget.

The council was sharply divided about this action: Six of them voted to approve the move and five were against it.

“Some of them also want to see the budget balanced,” Lawrence said.

Some major capital improvements are also proposed to be completed. At City Hall, the leaky roof would be fixed, the elevator upgraded and the front desk of the Finance Department better secured. Fire department headquarters would undergo some improvements.

Lawrence was one of the three councilors who voted against postponing adoption of the budget.

“I think it’s a good budget,” he said. “But I’m just one council person.”

Council member Dee-Anne Shaw is among those interested in learning more about the budget before submitting her final approval.

“I felt rushed,” she said. “We should have an opportunity to explore it a little bit more.”

State law requires cities to adopt their 2017 spending plans before the end of this year.

Five new police department positions in Larson’s proposed budget remain as originally proposed by the mayor. Three new officers will be paid for using anticipated proceeds from the three-tenths-of-a-percent tax. Two corrections officers assigned to the city jail are going to be hired and paid for using police department funding.

Larson said use of reserves is to cover one-time capital expenses and that the city’s work force being moved to a lower-tier medical plan, as well as projected economic growth, is expected to provide adequate revenue to offset increased spending.