The Jefferson City budget committee has concluded its work and put its stamp of approval on the draft 2015 budget, but not without making several changes to what had been proposed by Mayor Eric Struemph.
Struemph unveiled his draft budget Sept. 8. Since then, the budget committee, which consists of all City Council members, has met each week to discuss every aspect of the city's budget and debate what items would be included. After the committee finished its work last week, it was clear that the biggest focus of the process had concerned city staffing.
The draft approved by the committee Thursday is a $29.48 million general revenue budget that would plan to return a little more than $5,000 to the fund balance at the end of the 2015 fiscal year, assuming all revenues and expenditures come in as projected.
Two of the biggest changes in Struemph's budget were the 2 percent pay increase for city employees, which was approved by the committee, and the additional holiday, which would have been President's Day and was removed from the budget by the committee.
By removing the funds for the additional holiday, plus additional savings from the recent merger of the finance and IT departments and new health insurance plan options that enable the city to drop the self-insured deductible, the committee was able to fund four additional positions at City Hall that had not been funded by the mayor or city administrator.
The committee added funds for an additional police officer, a fire training officer, an administrative position in the Human Resources Department and an additional street maintenance worker.
But some items were debated in multiple meetings only to be left out of the final draft budget for one reason or another.
Several council members had voiced support for reinstating the citywide internship program, which would cost $27,558. The item was placed on the parking lot last month and funds for the program were being considered Thursday. The parking lot was where council members placed any added expenditures, revenues or cuts that were not in the mayor's draft budget.
Fourth Ward Glen Costales said Thursday that the city is in a tight fiscal year and the internship program is not a priority when compared to other items being considered for funding. Shortly after, a motion to remove the funds for the internship program was approved by a 5-4 vote.
"These are nice programs to have if we're flush," Costales said. "We're not flush in funds at this time."
That same motion also removed $15,000 that had been placed on the parking lot for a reconnaissance survey of more than 200 homes near the West Main Street area that would have enabled the neighborhood to become a historic district. Second Ward Councilwoman Laura Ward said Thursday that though she's a big supporter of historic preservation, she did not support the funds for the survey because of the need to fund staff positions, such as the police officer and fire training officer.
"I really think it's important to fund the positions dealing with public safety," Ward said.
Also discussed by the committee at one time was removing the funding for security at City Council meetings (cost of $1,500) and removing the training and education funds from the mayor and council budget (cost of $1,400). Though eliminating those funds were placed on the parking lot last month, an effort to officially eliminate them from the budget failed Thursday by a 7-2 vote, with Costales and 4th Ward Councilman Carlos Graham casting the only affirmative votes.
The council also had put nearly $19,000 on the parking lot to fund a new global navigation satellite system in the engineering division earlier on in the process. But on Thursday, the council opted to remove the funding for that equipment from the 2015 budget, with the understanding that a supplemental appropriation would be sought this fiscal year to fund the equipment. Public Works Director Matt Morash had previously said the system, used as a survey instrument, was the No. 1 unfunded priority in that division.
The City Council will consider final approval of the 2015 draft budget at its Oct. 20 meeting. The 2015 fiscal year begins Nov. 1.
Draft budget documents can be found at jeffcitymo.org/council/budgetmeetings.html
In or out of the budget?
The City Council budget committee put its stamp of approval on the draft 2015 budget for Jefferson City last week.
Here are some of the major aspects of the budget, showing whether they were included in the budget proposed by Mayor Eric Struemph in September, as well as what was approved by the budget committee.
The draft 2015 budget is expected to be voted on by the City Council at the Oct. 20 meeting.
MB = Line item in mayor's budget / BC = OK'd by budget committee
2 percent across the board pay increase for all city employees: MB / BC
Additional holiday (President's Day) for employees (Cost of $60,684): MB
Expanded transit service to the new St. Mary's Health Center on Mission Drive (Cost of $25,000): MB / BC
One additional police officer (Cost of $53,292): BC
One administrative position in the Human Resources Department (Cost of $48,615): BC
One fire training officer position (Cost of $89,559): BC
One additional street maintenance worker (Cost of $50,520): BC
One part-time, no benefit position in municipal court (Cost of $8,000, which will come from the parking fund): BC
4 percent bonus for three fire captains who had taken on training responsibilities (Cost of $9,736): MB
50-cent fare increase for transit riders (Would require public hearings before implementation and raise an estimated $30,000 in revenue): MB / BC