Evanston residents expressed a mix of approval and anger on Wednesday to the budget adopted this week by City Council.

“I think the citizens, during all the budget hearings, spoke out clearly that they did not want their services cut so I think the aldermen did the right thing,” said resident Gerald Gordon, who said the budget process went as well as could be expected.

But Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) said this year’s budget does not address the city’s underlying problems.

“It’s wasn’t sufficiently analytic,” he said. “I’d call it throwing darts at the wall.”

The city faces a deficit as large as the nearly $4 million it did this year only once every 10 to 15 years, City Manager Roger Crum said. To balance the budget, the City Council voted 6-3 on Monday to raise property taxes by 7.2 percent while cutting $190,000 from mental health grants and Community Purchased Services. The council chose also to lower raises for non-union city employees.

“We are going to hope for better revenues this year,” Crum said.

Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said that this year city revenues were lower because of fallout from the events of Sept. 11, and that next year he expects Evanston’s financial situation to improve.

“I hope the revenues do better, and I hope we don’t have as much of a shortfall,” he said.

Newman also said he was pleased that street lighting, which he identified as his “number one priority” for this budget season, would receive $640,000 from the $6 million capital improvements fund.

But not everyone involved in the budget process was so optimistic about the future.

Mimi Peterson, co-chairwoman of the Fair Share Action Committee, said the property tax increase will make it harder for people to afford to live in Evanston.

“I don’t think we are getting anything for our increase,” she said.

Peterson said her hope has “pretty much diminished” that Evanston will avoid a deficit next year because with no election next year, there will be less incentive for aldermen to change.

At Monday’s council meeting, Moran too expressed doubt that city finances would improve. He has suggested the council consider decreasing the fire stations and funding to the community defender program.

Moran told The Daily that next year’s council and city staff should analyze city departments and divisions one by one to see that employees are organized properly and are delivering services efficiently. Moran called this year’s process unscientific.

Moran also was critical of the council’s decision to raise property taxes, which he said was not well-received among his constituents. He does not see increasing taxes as a sustainable way of raising revenue for the city.

He also disagreed with the cut to the Community Purchased Services and Mental Health Board, which affects the “voiceless.”

“They are not the kind of people who are able to mobilize easily and develop a vocal constituency,” Moran said.