Council will vote on the following items at their June 13 Budget Work Session
o Funding Sidewalk and Street Improvement backlog at ~$13M
o Funding a new way to measure traffic impact for $150k
o Slightly enhancing leaf collection for ~$3.4M plus ongoing costs
o Significantly raising council member salaries and expense allowances
o Raising police and firefighter pay by at least $8.6M and possibly quite a bit more
Funding could come from ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding, Council Contingency Funds, General Capital Reserves, Base Budget reductions, and/or tax increases
Council member Cox asks that public safety be a priority and that we remove costs in some areas of the budget (e.g., new municipal building) in order to have the proposed 2 cent property tax increase cover public safety compensation increases rather than less high priority items
Mayor Baldwin asks Councilor Cox and any other councilors who have recommendations on where budget can be cut to bring those ideas to the 6/13 Budget Work Session.
Budget Note 1 – Sidewalk and Street Improvement Petitions
- To address backlog of sidewalk projects would cost ~$4M and to address street improvement projects backlog would cost ~$8.6M
- Strangely the Oxford Road sidewalk that Councilor Knight campaigned on is not included in the backlog list
- Consensus appeared to be to fund these projects
Budget Note 2 – VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) Analysis Screening Tool and Methodology
- Would cost ~$150k to develop
- Consensus appeared to be to fund this project
Budget Note 3 – Leaf Collection Enhancements
- Consensus was Option 1 –Maintain Current Schedule
This option would not enhance existing services but increase service reliability through one‐time and recurring equipment replacement. Lack of equipment reliability is a significant barrier to service delivery. Improving equipment reliability will increase the predictability and timeliness of service. The current schedule includes the first collection pass, occurring approximately between early November and mid‐January, and the second collection pass, occurring approximately between mid‐January and February 28. To consistently meet this schedule, the following measures are necessary:
- · Equipment replacement ($2.7M)
- · Spare Fleet expansion ($0.7M)
Due to issues related to the supply chain and equipment procurement experienced by the City, the impacts of this option may not be realized until the 2023‐2024 leaf collection season. Estimated cost for this option is $3.4M in year one and $0.8M on‐going.
Budget Note 4 – City Council Pay
- Consensus appeared to be to significantly raise council salaries and expense allowances
Budget Note 5 – Police and Fire Association Pay Plan Analysis
- Proposed Budget FY23 Pay Plan Police and Fire Total $8.6M
- Police: $5.5M
- Fire: $3.1M
- RPPA Proposal Total $14.1M – $14.3M
- Firefighters Local 548 Proposal Total $5.5M – $10.6M
- Councilor Buffkin asks for more details at June 13 meeting
Budget Note 6 – Police and Fire 10 Percent Pay Proposal
- The total estimated costs to implement the City’s FY2023 proposed pay plan for Police and Fire with 10% increase to all sworn and uniformed positions is:
- Implementing for both departments costs $18.0M
- Implementing for only Police costs $11.4M
- Implementing for only Fire costs $6.6M
- Councilor Buffkin withdrew this budget note in favor of budget note 5
City Manager suggests implementing a one-time retention bonus, looking at an incentive program which would include the ability for some personnel to take cars home, and reviewing other options.