Common Council to discuss important budget items tonight

Published on: 11/8/2011

Mayor Jeff Scrima has offered his recommendations on the city budget. Now, it’s up to the Common Council to decide what they want to do.

The Council could make these decisions tonight when it meets at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall and will discuss many avenues they can go regarding the budget.

For city officials, the budget has centered on one thing since it was released last month: Maintaining a tax levy freeze.

Since few wanted a garbage fee, Scrima came up with five options that he presented to the Finance Committee last week. These recommendations will be the main topic at tonight’s meeting.

Initially, the city needed to reduce the city budget by $2.7 million if there would be a zero-percent tax levy and no tax increase. Interim City Administrator Steve Crandell provided $1.2 million in reductions taken from infrastructure and equipment. But with $1.5 million to go in order to maintain these goals, Scrima came up with his ways.

In a memo he released last week, he notes that this could be achieved if there is a freeze pay for all employees, including union members, saving $571,000. (Employees were supposed to get a 1.5 percent increase next year); If employees contribute 12 percent for health insurance, instead of the scheduled 7 to 10 percent, saving $425,000; If union employees contribute 5.8 percent to their pensions, as nonunion employees are now required to do, and saving the city $1.57 million. (Scrima notes police pensions are 20.3 percent of their salaries and fire pensions are 22.6 percent of their salaries. He added “these percentages are above and beyond their salaries.”

Scrima adds that if adjusting pay and benefits is not wanted, he offers two other options.

One is to layoff city employees. He said it could save the city $93,000 per average employee and explained that laying off 17 employees could fill the $1.5 million budget gap.

The other is to require furloughs on all bargaining units, other than police and fire. He says it could save the city $71,000 per day and adds that 22 furlough days could fill the $1.5 million gap.

So now the staff will discuss and possibly take action on these items.

City residents and taxpayers can also speak out on the budget as the meeting starts with a public comment section. Each speaker is limited to three minutes and the public comment section ends by 8 p.m.

Here is what the agenda says for tonight’s meeting:

• The council will discuss and possibly take action on whether Crandell should contact non-represented employees and employee bargaining units representing city employees to request reopening negotiations of current labor agreements.

• They will also discuss whether to direct Crandell to contact them on whether to determine whether employees would be willing to voluntarily relinquish scheduled salary increases and/or contribute 5.8 percent into their pensions and/or increase premium contributions for health insurance to 12 percent and/or early retirement packages and/or make other monetary concessions without requesting reopening of negotiations.

• If the council directs Crandell to do any of the following, a motion could be made to go into closed session to formulate a strategy regarding possible negotiations with employee bargaining units.

The Finance Committee was scheduled to finish its budget by now and the Council was to adopt a budget for 2012 by Nov. 15. It does not appear that will happen and it is looking like a budget won’t be in place until the end of the month.

Tonight’s meeting will be televised on Channel 25.