It's official. The City of Troy now supports the war in Iraq, and the city's military personnel deployed in it.

Fighting back tears, Council President Johnny Witherington read the resolution for the council.

&uot;I feel that it's appropriate to offer our support, and I offer this resolution to the council,&uot; he said.

The Council passed the resolution unanimously.

After the passage, Mayor Jimmy Lunsford requested a moment of silence, and a prayer from Witherington for the safety of the deployed troops.

Earlier in the meeting, Lunsford presented the findings of city's 2002 audit.

The annual audit, required by state law and conducted by Troy-based Gibson & Carden, LLC, Certified Public Accountants, revealed growth in the city's revenues and no findings of material weaknesses.

Lunsford summarized the revenues for the council: the total assets for fiscal year 2002 were $30.3 million, up from the previous year's total of $26.8 million.

Sales tax revenues were up $582,000 over the prior year, indicating &uot;continued growth&uot; for Troy, Lunsford said.

Gasoline taxes increased by $21,000, and real estate and property taxes grew by $19,000.

&uot;If we could stop expenses, we would be better off,&uot; Lunsford added.

Those expenses totaled just more than $17 million for the year that ended Sept. 30, 2002.

The council is not required to take any action on the audit findings.

In other actions, the council established the corporate limits as a local preference zone for bidders on city services and equipment.

Alabama law allows a municipality to set a zone that will give local bidders a 3 percent margin when bidding.

If a bidder is located inside Troy's city limits, their bid may be up to 3 percent higher and still be legally declared the lowest and best bidder by the city.

The also council approved the purchase of a tow-behind vacuum for street cleaning at a cost of $24,686, and awarded a contract for the video inspection of the city's sewer system for $19,760.

Funding for that project is being provided through a Community Development Block Grant. There were no local bidders for either purchase.

The council held a final public hearing before rezoning a piece of property at 300 Brundidge St. from residential to commercial. The property is owned by Donna Webster.

There was no opposition to the rezoning question.

Permission was granted to Fire Chief Ray Rhodes to seek a $417,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to fund the purchase of a new 75-foot ladder truck for the department.

That grant is through the Assistance to Fire Fighters Grant program now in its third year. If approved, the city would be required to match 10 percent of the cost of the new truck.