The cover is of drab gray, perhaps some dull blue and a little indiscriminate beige. Its spine is tarnished and the pages inside have taken on a sepia tone.

But the reaction of Mexico city officials to a glimpse of the booklet was almost like that of a child at Christmas – bright smiles, giggles of "it's so cute" and other expressions of excitement.

The little paper bound book was a find in the old Ledger building. Its pages spell out the city of Mexico's budget for fiscal year 1950-51 in 42 pages plus an introduction. Compared to the spiral bound, tabulated 2020-21 budget that consumes some 169 pages, it is indeed a charming reminder of the past.

"I suppose a lot of people would be surprised to see the difference," said Roger Haynes, Mexico's deputy city manager. "But when you compare how codes were written 70 years ago, maybe I shouldn't be surprised."

The city was in the midst of a boom in 1950, judging from the tone of then city manager Peter Roan's assessment of property taxes. "The past ten months have been one of the best in Mexico's history from the standpoint of General Tax collections," he noted.

And there was other good news to share. Revenue from the cigarette tax was on the rise. In addition, all hand operated gasoline pumps in the city had recently been metered. Although estimated expenditures were higher for the coming fiscal year, it was largely due to planned improvements and expansion of city limits. One bit of work already completed was the reconditioning of parking meters.

Downtown Mexico was once studded with parking meters. Even employees at the Audrain County Courthouse had to feed the meters.

"Everybody went out and moved their cars every two hours," current mayor Chris Miller recalled.

The meters disappeared as shoppers abandoned the downtown square in favor of West Plaza and Walmart. Haynes also points out that city officials eventually determined there were better uses for the funds and people assigned to read meters and process thousands of coins.

In 1950, law enforcement officers were detailed to meter patrol. The police department had undergone extensive training a year or two before resulted in a 76 percent increase in arrests. They purchased new vehicles, but Roan said in his report that foot patrol "was used as much as possible."

There were some sore spots addressed in the 1950-51 budget. Funds toward street lighting were doubled.

As the city manager explained in his introduction, "we are setting out on a program to modernize the street lighting system – now woefully inadequate."

Elmwood Cemetery was a mess. The City Council and the Elmwood Cemetery Association divided responsibility for the site. Because the association insisted that only graves that were endowed or covered by an annual care plan be maintained, it had become a patchwork.

"This has resulted in an unsightly condition in the cemetery and has resulted in undeserved criticism on the city administration," he complained.

Direct comparison of the 1950-51 budget with the current packet is problematic. Seventy years ago, cemeteries and parks were lumped into a department. Today it is Parks and Recreation. The general fund covered public works, public safety, general government and "other." It now breaks down into more than a dozen departments, each with their own set of line items.

While the modern budget may appear bloated by comparison, Haynes explains that in addition to functions that did not exist in 1950, current budgets isolate revenue and expenditure goals for more specific services. Downtown holiday lighting, for instance, gets its own line item.

"The way we do budgets now makes us much better informed on the specifics of a program," he said.

In 1950 it was a simpler document. The thicker thome used today may appear difficult, but for those who use it daily, it's also more efficient.