The Jefferson City Council is continuing its discussions on the draft 2017 budget, and further changes are expected. But, two departments have seen an incredibly high rate of success on their requests this year.
Each year, the city's draft budget includes requests from each department that may have been funded or left unfunded, often called pink sheet requests because they were once listed on pink sheets of paper in old budget books.
Both the Public Works Department and the Police Department saw a large majority of their pink sheet requests funded in the mayor's draft 2017 budget, though both department heads acknowledged that could change as budget discussions move forward.
In the Public Works Department, only one pink sheet request was left unfunded in the draft budget, but even that request may make it to the final draft as council members voted late last week to fund it.
(Public Works also encompasses several enterprise funds, which are self-sustaining funds kept separate from the general fund. There is one pink sheet in enterprise funds, but for the purposes of this article, the focus will be kept on general revenue funds.)
Between the department's central maintenance, engineering and street divisions, more than $850,000 was approved for pink sheet requests for Public Works, largely for equipment and personnel.
The Public Works Department is down several positions compared to where it was a few years ago. Because of an unexpected budget shortfall in 2013, the department lost three design engineers and two street workers at a time when they were considering requesting additional employees.
The draft budget currently includes one design engineer, which will bring the formerly four-person department up to two, and two street workers, which would re-institute the two positions cut in 2013.
Only one of the street worker positions was actually funded in the mayor's draft budget, but the council unanimously approved a motion at the last Budget Committee meeting to fund the second street worker position, though that funding will be removed if a matching revenue offset is not approved at the next budget meeting Thursday.
Department Director Matt Morasch said it comes down to availability of funds, and in the next budget year, there are projected to be more funds available to bring these positions back.
At the last budget meeting, 2nd Ward Councilman J. Rick Mihalevich said, in looking at where the city was in terms of full-time employees four years ago compared to now, other departments have largely made it back to where they once were, except for Public Works.
"I think there is some evidence that the street division and Public Works is down," Mihalevich said. "And we're bringing most everybody back up."
In the Police Department, more than $460,000 in pink sheet requests were included in the mayor's draft, leaving only three items unfunded, though one of those may make it into the final budget.
The draft budget includes two new positions in the Police Department: a police information manager and a police officer I. Both positions were requested by the department last year but were not funded in the current budget. Chief Roger Schroeder has said both positions, or at least some version of them, had existed in the department before the budget shortfall in 2013. The department had a records section supervisory position eliminated in 2013, and the police information manager is a similar position with the title change reflecting evolving technology.
(It is worth noting the additional police officer could be 50 percent funded by Jefferson City Public Schools, as the position would be placed at Jefferson City High School as a school resource officer.)
The draft budget also includes purchasing two new police motorcycles at $14,500 each, one new unmarked police car for $28,251, five new black-and-white police cars at $28,251 each and a new animal control truck at $28,251. Each car is replacing a vehicle that has more than 100,000 miles on it.
The three items left unfunded in the mayor's draft are two requests for two part-time customer service specialists/adoption counselors at $10,400 each and a $26,000 request for an emergency notification system.
At the last budget meeting, the council unanimously voted to fund the emergency notification system, though that funding will be removed if a matching revenue offset is not approved at the next budget meeting Thursday.
Echoing Morasch, Schroeder said the department's approach to requests has not changed since he's been there, but rather the city's financial situation has changed.
"Except for the previous three years, when we've all had to sacrifice and struggle a bit, the Police Department has enjoyed strong support from the City Council," Schroeder said. "Although no one wants to prematurely assume the financial constraints are ending, positive numbers have been coming in for many months. That, at least, creates room for optimism."
Additional detail:
Pink sheets detail unfunded requests from Jefferson City departments