Police Chief Thomas Achord told council at Monday’s mid-year budget review that because of the spending freeze imposed by Mayor Butch Berry in April, he cut his spending to “bare bones.” Nevertheless, his professional services line item for the year is already almost spent, so he plans to borrow $2500 from his equipment maintenance to cover professional services for the rest of the year.
Achord said, “We’ll operate with what you give me.” He is using part-timers to fill in when staffing is short to avoid overtime costs. He cautioned there will be unexpected consequences in staffing which he cannot predict, but he’s embracing the responsibility of managing staff workload without encumbering his budget with too much overtime or accrued vacation.
Alderman Mickey Schneider asked if Achord had looked at simply paying staff after they accrued their maximum vacation time instead of adding more vacation time. “The financial impact would be too much, and I won’t choose it,” Achord responded. “It would be a tremendous burden. They would never take a vacation and would take the check instead.”
He tells staff, “Use your hours.” He said his job is to make sure officers manage their vacation time effectively and take it before it gets to the maximum.
Berry commented the city owed almost $50,000 to a former employee who recently retired. He said he has taken steps to avoid putting the city in that situation again, and Achord is following that lead.
Achord said as a result of the freeze, his department is being more resourceful by holding off on some expenses and fixing things themselves.
Transit
Transit Director Ken Smith cleared confusion about his dire-looking budget numbers by assuring council his department will be in the black by the end of the year. In fact, the red numbers aldermen were seeing are an aberration caused by receiving federal money as reimbursement based on what he has already spent.
In January, Transit received a new trolley which should have arrived in 2015, but council did not carry over to this year’s budget his 20 percent match for the federal grant. In addition, another trolley was delivered this year for which he paid a 20 percent match. Finance Director Lonnie Clark stated the anomaly in the budget would be cleaned up by the time he proposes the 2017 budget resolution.
Smith commented, “We are totally self-supporting. I don’t take money from the city. It doesn’t look like it in the budget because of the late payments, but we’ll be in the black by the end of the year.”
He said tram tours make the difference, and fare income is up 37 percent this year over very good revenue last year. He added that federal dollars pay for 80 percent of his administrative expenses, 80 percent of his capital expenditures and 50 percent of his operations after he subtracts fare revenue and a couple other items.
He has asked for federal funding for one more trolley because some of his fleet is aging, but Transit should be in good shape for a few years after another new one.
Berry mentioned they are looking at covering areas in parking lots with solar panels. Smith said locations they are considering are the transit building downtown, the transit parking area and the parking lot on Planer Hill. He said federal grants might be available for the project because it would save them money in the long run.
Fire Department
Fire Chief Nick Samac said he had to move funds from one part of his budget to cover overtime. He, like Achord, has been using part-timers to manage his overtime expenses, and he tries to schedule rotating shifts in a fiscally efficient way. “We’re being as conscientious as possible,” he remarked.
Clark commented Samac has been looking for new ways to save the city money, and “has really pulled in expenses.”
Public Works
Alderman David Mitchell asked Public Works Director Dwayne Allen about progress on installing new water meters, and Allen estimated 83 percent of the meters have been installed, but the resulting increase in revenue has not been what he expected. He said they are nearly finished with installing meters at commercial sites but, as a consequence, they are behind of fixing leaks.
Allen said there is still measurable loss due to leakage but because of the meters, billing has brought in more revenue. Mitchell said he was looking for a better return on the investment. “So infrastructure needs money to fix more pipes.”
Allen added it has been a wet year, so water use is down. Also, a device such as a flowmeter would help him locate leaks, but they cost $4000, and he can’t afford one. He also noted once the new meters were in place and water use was being measured more accurately, large users were financially affected so they began fixing their own leaks.
He said revenue from the sale of water helps to make up for the loss on processing sewer.
Berry said the city is keeping its head above water but not able to fix what it needs to fix. He gave as an example the fire department spent $1400 on lighting but will save $4000.
“So we really need the one percent tax for fixing the infrastructure,” Mitchell reiterated.
Berry mentioned he is still in the process of getting bids for aspects of the proposed new Public Works building. He said the city would act as its own contractor to keep costs down. He has received bids for different parts of the project, but is pursuing more. He intends to install solar collectors as part of the project that will eventually save money for the city.
Alderman Kristi Kendrick commented, “It looks like we’re heading in the right direction, but there are still lots of capital expenses we can’t make.”
One more time, Mitchell stated, “We really need the one percent tax.”
Mayor’s budget
Berry announced expenses for City Attorney Tim Weaver have already exceeded his allocation in this year’s budget. Berry said city staff have taken on responsibilities such as writing drafts of ordinances, “but expenses of being the city’s prosecuting attorney are beyond our control.”
Schneider noted that council several years ago decided not to have the city attorney attend all council meetings as a cost saving measure, and the results were an increased number of lawsuits against the city and even more expenses. “It’s worth paying the money not to have a lawsuit.”
Alderman Terry McClung noted that some of the expenses attached to Weaver’s work ought not be in the mayor’s budget. He asserted some expenses should more accurately be assigned to the police department, for example, and Berry agreed his office would look at McClung’s suggestion.
Berry said he would have more information about his proposed one percent tax for council to peruse at the Sept. 12 meeting. His three-page presentation “is still being polished,” and will eventually be posted on the city website.
Mitchell stated the mayor needs to put on a full court press to get the message out in every possible way. McClung suggested a hand-delivered flyer to every house in town.
Next city council meeting will be Monday, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m.