Pink sheets detail unfunded budget requests from city staff

The Jefferson City Council is continuing its work on the draft 2016 budget knowing not everything will make it into the final budget, but there are already a large number of requests that didn't make it into the mayor's draft budget.

The News Tribune has gone through each unfunded request, often called "pink sheet" requests as they were once detailed on pink sheets of paper in old budget books. Here's what departments are requesting that are not included in the draft 2016 budget so far and the amount of unfunded requests:

Public Works: $630,372

The Public Works Department is requesting $87,072 to fund a new design engineer position to help design and plan capital improvement projects, as well as other city projects. The request states, "the reduction of personnel within the Engineering Division and the reorganization of the Public Works Department have decreased the in-house design capacity of the city by 75 percent and removed the position of design supervisor."

Pink sheets also request two street worker positions at $39,150 each, noting two street worker positions have been held vacant since the early retirement program began at the city in 2013.

One pink sheet requests $28,000 to replace the Central Maintenance Division shop truck, which is more than 10 years old and has more than 100,000 miles on it. Another requests $279,000 to replace the current truck-mounted street sweeper that is more than 10 years old. Two pink sheets request refurbishing of single-axle snow plows at a cost of $35,000 to try and extend the life of the vehicles by another five years.

Pink sheets also request $4,000 to replace brush hog attachments for mowing tractors, $9,000 for a new equipment trailer and $75,000 for a new Ford F550 snow plow truck.

Fire: $306,791

Pink sheet requests include $15,000 for improvements to the fire training facility on Hyde Park Road, with the request stating no significant improvements have been made to the burn building site in more than 20 years and to the apparatus storage facility in more than 10 years.

Another pink sheet requests a part-time position to support the administrative staff at a cost of $16,147. One requests $58,500 to pay for 75 firefighter physicals. Two firefighter positions are requested at $63,177 each, though the department is waiting to hear about a SAFER grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which, if awarded, would pay for the two positions with no requirement of a future commitment from the city.

The department also has a pink sheet request for $35,000 to pay for a staff-assigned response vehicle to serve as backup command and control at incident scenes, as well as $21,440 for an in-house, self-contained breathing apparatus technician program, which would manage the long-term cost of routine maintenance of the apparatus.

Another pink sheet requests $34,350 for a breathing air compressor at the Hyde Park Training Facility. The request states once the department upgraded the self-contained breathing apparatus, only fire stations No. 1 and 3 were upgraded to produce air with a high pressure compressor, which "is necessary to operate a viable training center and allow units in training to maintain a ready status."

Police: $144,416

The Police Department's pink sheets focus mainly on personnel needs. One requests an additional police officer at a cost of $55,458 and another requests a police information manager at a cost of $59,912 to organize and supervise the department's records management. Another pink sheet requests replacement of an unmarked 2006 police pickup truck with more than 98,000 miles at a cost of $29,046.

Planning and Protective Services: $130,560

One pink sheet requests $2,000 to increase professional services for nuisance hearing costs, while another requests $2,500 to pay for advertising costs to promote planning events to the general public. There is a pink sheet request for glass recycling equipment at a cost of $21,207 to pay for a new loader, but that was actually funded out of the current budget.

Another pink sheet requests $16,560 to pay for a local match to a State Historic Preservation Fund grant that would survey the West Main Street and/or Forest Drive area. The department also requests $89,500 for a new building inspector to specialize in building mechanical systems, as well as a new truck for the position. The request states an important element of building systems is the mechanical system, which "is not being inspected and permits are not being issued to help ensure the safety of building users."

The department also requests $20,000 to increase the property maintenance demolition expense to pay for removal of dangerous and dilapidated buildings, noting six buildings are identified as candidates for demolitions.

Human Resources: $82,411

Though Human Resources requested the reinstatement of one full-time administrative assistant, that was alternatively funded through inclusion of two part-time assistants for about half the cost. However, another pink sheet requests full funding for a part-time position that was under-funded in the current fiscal year. The request states the budget has $9,600 for the position, which would cost $14,353 if fully funded.

At the budget committee meeting Thursday, Human Resources Director Gail Strope said the department is severely understaffed and asked the City Council to do anything possible to allow for additional employees. Strope said the standard is to have one full-time Human Resources employee for every 100 city employees, but the department currently has one for every 258.

"We're far below where we should be," Strope said.

Strope said having an understaffed Human Resources department has an impact on the rest of the city, even noting morale has been declining among city employees.

"We are the backbone to help them (employees)," Strope said. "I'll take anything I can get."

Another pink sheet requests reinstatement of the city's internship program, which was cut about two years ago, at a cost of $27,558. At a recent budget meeting, 2nd Ward Councilman Rick Mihalevich voiced support for the program, but so far, no motion has been made to fund its reinstatement.

Also listed in a pink sheet request is $50,000 for an update on the city's classification and compensation study, which was last done in 2003. However, the council recently authorized staff to issue a request for proposals for such a study, which is anticipated to be a six- to eight-month process.

Non-departmental: $41,250

Pink sheets detail requests to replace the carpet and gallery seats in the City Council chambers at City Hall for $25,000, as well as replacements of the council and staff seats in the chambers for $6,250. Both items were in City Administrator Steve Crowell's draft budget, but removed from Tergin's draft. Tergin said she chose to put those funds into additional funding for the Old Town residential incentive program, the Cultural Arts Commission and funds for the old Missouri State Penitentiary.

Though no motion has been made, 3rd Ward Councilman Bob Scrivner said at the last budget meeting he would hope the council could get new chairs at some point as the current ones are not very good.

Another pink sheet requests $10,000 for a new City Hall sign, something Crowell said grew out of an employee group suggestion. He said staff often receive calls from people who don't know how to find City Hall, as the sign on the building identifies it as the John G. Christy Municipal Building.

Law: $15,000

A pink sheet request details $15,000 needed for design work at the City Hall Annex - where the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department is currently housed - to plan for municipal court to move into the area once parks moves to the new multipurpose building. While this item is not in Mayor Carrie Tergin's draft budget, it was in Crowell's draft budget, though he noted he had originally thought the parks department would be farther along on the multipurpose building project by the time the budget process started.

"It's just a timing issue," Crowell said.

Crowell said the money for the design also could be taken from the capital improvement sales tax when and if the council decides to look at redesigning the annex.

Information Technology: $10,000

The pink sheet requests one part-time, no benefit GIS worker to do field collection and updating of the city's GIS datasets. The request states "a good portion of data has not been updated since 2010. We have roughly 4,800 hours worth of work that needs completed." It also notes if the position were funded, it would help accomplish 1,000 of those hours.

Animal Control: $5,000

The pink sheet requests the reinstatement of a part-time position for the summers, to provide customer service, at a cost of $5,000. The request states "when a citizen comes into the building, they are expecting acknowledgement and have questions about what to do because it is their first time. If someone is not in the front lobby, they look confused and unsure of what to do."

Enterprise funds have many unfunded requests

Outside of the general fund budget, Jefferson City also has several enterprise funds, which are self-sustaining funds kept separate from the general fund.

These funds generate their own revenue, either through charges, fares or a dedicated tax. No general fund money would be used to fund the following items or changes as the requests currently stand.

Here are the unfunded requests from all the enterprise funds:

Wastewater: $10,970,000

The Wastewater Division has the largest unfunded requests, starting with a $350,000 request for a sewer main replacement in areas such as St. Mary's Boulevard, William Street and Ellis Bouelvard at Christy Drive. One pink sheet requests $240,000 to replace a treatment plant blower that provides aeration to the treatment facility.

One requests $50,000 to replace a vehicle used for crew and equipment transport, and another requests $50,000 to replace the flooring at 2320 Hyde Park Road, which is the street division building, and the west gate at the Hyde Park compound. The division requests $115,000 to replace a dump truck used to haul dirt, rock and other materials for sewer main repairs, and $7,000 for a new trailer.

Pink sheets also request $60,000 to replace the easement jetting machine, used for transport of jetting hoses and nozzles into difficult and tight terrain, and $4,500 for a new bobcat attachment to grade dirt rock and other surfaces. One requests $45,000 to replace a one-ton truck used to haul pump and electrical equipment and another requests $32,000 for replacing a three-quarter-ton truck used by the treatment plant manager. The division also requests $16,500 for new samplers, lab equipment and computer replacements.

In larger projects, the division is requesting $1.2 million to replace the Hayselton Pump Station, which is the oldest active pump station in the city's sanitary sewer system, as well as $1,009,000 to upgrade a sanitary sewer main. Another $3.3 million is requested to upgrade the sewer from Marshall Street to Missouri Boulevard, along the east branch of Wears Creek, and $1.5 million is requested to replace the pumps and sewer force main by the Green Meadow Pump Station. (A force main moves wastewater under pressure by using pumps or compressors in lift stations.)

The division also requests $2.89 million to evaluate and replace the Riverside force main, the U.S. 54 force main and the Westview force main. Another pink sheet requests $101,000 for the closing costs of a $10 million wastewater loan.

Parks: $162,000

At Ellis-Porter Pool, the pink sheet requests $50,000 to replace the drop slide, which was put in the pool in the late 1980s and has become unsteady. According to the request, "it wiggles a lot when larger individuals go down the slide."

At Memorial Pool, $50,000 was requested to add an aquatic play unit slide and $7,000 was requested for shade structures at the concession deck.

At the golf course, $25,000 was requested to replace a utility vehicle from 1994 with more than 6,500 hours on it. Also, in recreation services, $30,000 was requested for three new sand volleyball courts to allow for an expansion of summer sand volleyball leagues.

Transit: $20,000

The sole pink sheet request from the transit division is to fund a shuttle service and promotion for $20,000. The request states the money would provide shuttle service on JeffTran from pre-determined locations to Salute to America, Thursday Night Live and other festival district events.

According to the request, "providing shuttle service will reach two key demographics to JeffTran: visitors and young professionals" and noting that young professionals are more likely to be lifelong JeffTran users once they become aware of the service.

Related documents:

Proposed Jefferson City budget changes for 2016

Other articles in this series:

Mayor's budget includes leasing police vehicles instead of outright purchase

Mayor's proposal features some significant funding changes

Draft budget forecasts changes for enterprise funds