The city's biggest ever budget of $50.5 million is drawing praise despite its high price tag.

For the first time in at least 40 years, the city has no outstanding bond debt, city officials noted.

City Councilman Jack Jenkins said he finds it noteworthy that "the city is showing a zero debt balance, and that's a significant achievement."

The city has no outstanding loans, said Jenkins, who asked the city staff to determine the last time there was a zero debt balance. "Staff is still doing research, but they're back to 1967 and haven't found another year that we could claim the zero balance," Jenkins said.

In his 23...