Making up a $1.68 million shortfall

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Jefferson City officials are expected to move forward next week with a plan to make up for a $1.68 million budget shortfall, which will initiate cuts to every city department and some city funded events.

At a special City Council meeting Monday, the council discussed a detailed plan of how the city would cut roughly $1.68 million from the current budget. The plan was included in a bill introduced Monday and the council is expected to approve the plan at their regular council meeting March 18.

The council did vote to move forward with an early retirement program known as the separation incentive plan. The city’s plan includes an anticipated $150,000 in savings from the early retirement program.

On Feb. 25, it was revealed that the city is running a nearly $2 million shortfall for the current fiscal year and has been overspending in past years. At the time, City Administrator Nathan Nickolaus had proposed a series of cuts and measures to deal with the budget situation, including cuts to every department and an early retirement program to help achieve an 8 percent reduction in workforce. Those cuts are still featured in the plan approved Monday.

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Proposed budget cuts

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“It’s a conservative plan, it’s a flexible plan,” Nickolaus said.

Interim Finance Director Bill Betts said the plan details staff projections, which could change over time. He said the department will have to monitor figures each month and make sure no further cuts are needed.

“I don’t think this plan will ever be done,” Betts said. “We’ll review it every month.”

The plan includes a $15,000 cut to the economic development contract with the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce and a cut to the city’s recently started security screenings before council meetings. Betts said the security screenings, which began in November, will continue for municipal court, but eliminating the screenings at council meetings will save $8,000.

“They were tough cuts,” Betts said.

Some cuts in the proposed plan aren’t really cuts, but simply a transfer of funds. More than $200,000 in infrastructure projects is included on the list of cuts, but Betts said those projects still will be funded, though that money now will come from the city’s half-cent capital improvements sales tax.

Nickolaus said the cuts all affect essential services of city departments, but there’s nothing else to cut.

“It’s not a question of what are essential services,” Nickolaus said. “The question now is what are the most essential services.”

Third Ward Councilman Bryan Pope said what is considered an essential service now, may not have been anything more than a desire a few years ago.

“There’s been mission creep in what is essential,” Pope said. “I hope that there will be serious consideration as to what are essentials.”

Pope questioned the value of some positions over what he said are clearly essential positions, such as public safety.

During discussion, several council members were more focused on how the current situation would be carried over to the next fiscal year and what further cuts may have to be made in a budget process that will begin for council members in a few months.

Betts said some of the items documented in the plan are one time revenue sources that will not be seen next year. To make up those funds, the council likely will have to make more cuts.

“Our revenues have become flat,” Betts said. “We’ll have to cut every year or we’ll have to come up with new revenues.”

The council also voted to approve a $161,000 expense from the general fund for six police vehicles. Because of the added expense, 2nd Ward Councilman Shawn Schulte made a motion to direct staff to look for additional cuts of $150,000 to $400,000 from the budget, excluding public safety departments.

The council also approved adjusted figures for capital improvement sales tax expenses as figures are likely to come in below the original projections.

The new plan reduces the overall capital improvements spending from $26 million to $23.5 million.

The council is expected to continue budget discussions March 18.

More like this story

JCsleeper 2 months, 1 week ago

With the area's depressed wages, folks just don't have much to spend after taxes, utilities, insurance, and fuel costs. Salary adjustments at the largest employer are stuck somewhere in a research committee. Other than some new dining establishments, there is little if any economic growth in this area. Lower sales tax revenues are merely a result of the real problem. Seems like every month some entity is attempting a new tax for some cause. Folks here just don't have it and are barely getting by these days. Not everyone gets to go the chamber celebrations. Tax increase for a new high school? Doubtful.

JCLifer 2 months, 1 week ago

City Hall is going to have to go back to the basics of why we have a city government. The remaining money needs to be targeted at such services at Law Enforcement, Streets, Sewerage systems, and Public transit.

Most folks in this town are struggling financially and cannot afford to pay any higher taxes. Wages have been stagnant or declining for years, although costs for things like utilities, gasoline, and groceries have more than doubled in cost over the past 5-10 years. People are tapped out, trying to pay for their own basics, and they do not have any money to pay for fancy palace conference centers or mega school/prisons. Don't look for ANY TAX INCREASES TO PASS for several years because PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO SPEND.

The city got into this mess because of stagnant wages, lack of job developent for any high wage, high tech jobs, and doubling costs for the items mentioned above. On top of that, the city continues to spend like a drunken sailor on parties, festivals, celebrations, SUVs for city employees, and new pick up trucks every year. Citizens are told over and over how good things are getting. They see cops driving around in brand new SUVs, but they cannot afford even a brand new Chevy Cavalier.

JCLifer 2 months, 1 week ago

There should be NO PAYMENT of our tax dollars to the Chamber of Commerce or the CVB until they can provide a ROI over what the city would normally get because of the free market. Since there have been NO high wage or high tech jobs attracted to this town, and several major empoyers have left with hundreds of good-paying jobs, there is NO REASON to pay the Chamber of Commerce for any economic development. There is NO REASON to pay the CVB to take credit for state government meetings and conferences that would have happened anyway. It is irresponsible that the council has continued to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Chamber year after year for no performance. How much did the taxpayers/Chamber spend to put its monthly newsletter section in ysterday's paper- the one with all the pictures of Chamber Members at Balls, Parties, Celebrations patting each other on the back and giving each other gifts that were probably paid by taxpayer money.

The more I read about all the partying and celebrating and back-patting by the Chamber members, the more sick I become. There is little to be celebrated in this town- people are really hurting and times are very tough. Jobs have been leaving this town, now coming to it. Average wages have fallen over the years. Standard of living in this town has fallen. The town's infrastructure continues to crumble. Young people leave as fast as they can, and they don't come back. There is no plan or vision anywhere to get us out of the mess. However, the Chamber and to a lot of extent the City Officials can only celebrate on other people's money and cheer themselves on. It makes me very sick how they can do this without acknoleging how bad things have gotten, and how bad people are suffering in this town.

The School Board should also be ashamed of their wrong-headed plans to abscound with taxpayers' money to build a huge palace of a school prison on the most expensive land in the city, while they practically give away our beloved JCHS, Nichols Career Center, and the brand new Adkins Stadium.

What will it take to bring smarts, responsibilty, and accountability to our city's "leaders"???

rodinman 2 months, 1 week ago

The first cut should be on those people directly responsible for the overspending. Eliminate all pay and allowances pay for the mayor and the city council and look at reducing the pay of the city administrator and eliminating all allowances for this position. Does the city still need a publis relations person??

3blindmice 2 months, 1 week ago

The real problem is the city council and city are being run by a bunch of clowns. There should be a audit by a outside firm of the city finances. Are we to believe nobody knew About such a large deficit? In the same breath of cutting other services they give $160k to the police? JCPD is twice as large as any other force in comparable size city. Cut the force in half and make the rest drive their current vehicles until the wheels fall of.

mleroux 2 months, 1 week ago

Jefferson City has an audit done every year by an outside firm. The audit for the past fiscal year is just finishing now. Past audits can be found at the city's website, at jeffcitymo.org/finance/financial.html

Madeleine Leroux/News Tribune reporter

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