In the last two years, nearly 20 positions have been eliminated at Jefferson City Hall, and the City Council likely will have to decide in the next budget cycle what the appropriate level of staffing is for the services provided.
In the 2013 fiscal year, which was the same year a $1.68 million budget shortfall was discovered mid-year, the city had 426 full-time employees. This year, the city has 408 full-time employees.
And department directors have included some of the former positions on lists of unfunded requests in the last two budget cycles, with the Human Resources Department, the Fire Department, the Public Works Department and the Police Department all requesting positions within the last two years.
City Administrator Steve Crowell said Jefferson City is not unique in its needs, noting no matter how large the budget is, all cities struggle to fund every need.
"Every city always has more needs," Crowell said. "And we're no exception. That's not anything unusual."
Crowell said most of the positions that have been discussed in the last budget cycle, and likely will be discussed in the next, are more related to improving or maintaining existing levels of service provided by the city, instead of being part of a new program or initiative.
Because of that, Crowell said, it comes down to what the City Council sees as the appropriate levels of service and where that falls on the overall priority list.
"That's a policy decision that the council has to answer," Crowell said. "There certainly is a need there, and that's part of staff's obligation, is to help the council understand that."
While Crowell noted there is merit in doing a study of appropriate staffing levels for cities of this size, he said it is difficult to quantify how many employees are necessary in Jefferson City, as it is a capital city. During the legislative session, any number of protests, rallies and demonstrations happen at the Capitol and in the city's downtown area, which can require city resources, such as officers.
"All of a sudden, it takes four to six police officers on a day's notice," Crowell said. "We are really unique in that regard."
But Crowell said it would be beneficial to have a "classification and compensation plan review" that would analyze job descriptions, salaries and benefits and compare them to other employers, something that hasn't been done since 2004.
The city's last outside study of employee salaries found they were compensated below the average of other state organizations and gave four different plans to address the issue. At the beginning of 2004, city officials adopted the plan with the least financial impact, which still had a cost of more than $350,000 to implement.
Crowell said a city likely should update any compensation study every three to five years, ideally, and he has estimated a new review would cost about $50,000, but that does not include any potential costs of implementing recommendations.
"I think it's important to have that look," Crowell said. "What you do with it is a whole other issue."
Staff is preparing the 2016 budget now, which will go to Crowell before going to the mayor. Mayor Carrie Tergin is expected to release her draft budget at the end of July, which will kick off council discussions, including what positions, if any, need to be funded and how to do so.
Because of the number of needs funded by the general fund, Crowell has suggested the council consider funding, or partially funding, certain positions out of the capital improvements sales tax. The sales tax is renewed every five years and meant to pay for capital projects in the city, such as the ongoing project at U.S. 54 and Stadium Boulevard.
Crowell said it may be beneficial to use some of the capital improvement funds for positions that work on those types of projects, such as a design engineer in the Public Works Department, which is currently down to one design engineer position. Because there is only one such employee, many projects have to be designed by an outside consultant, which over time can eat into a projects budget.
In a memo to the mayor and council at the end of April, Crowell noted he would like to see a cost/benefit analysis of hiring another employee or contracting the work out when it came to the design engineer position.
Right now, no city employee is paid out of the capital improvements sales tax fund, but Crowell said he has seen it done in other cities.
"Every city I've been in has had sales tax pay for city contribution toward whatever that project is," Crowell said. "There's not a right or wrong answer to that."