Town staff presented the draft of the $22.4 million budget during the May 3 Town Council regular meeting.
Town Manager Hardin Watkins said the positions that will be cut are one building/plumbing inspector and one electrical/mechanical inspector in the Inspections Department as well as one receptionist in the Administration Department. While the inspections staff members will stay through Aug. 30, 2010, the receptionist position will be cut Jun. 30.
“All will receive their full pay through that date and then will receive bi-weekly severance pay following a schedule based upon years of service,” Watkins said in a release to the media last week.
The vacant positions for Planner II – Urban Design Specialist and Equipment Operator for Public Works will be frozen. Also, the vacant Parks and Recreation Marketing Specialist will be limited to part-time work for 19 hours, rather than keep the position open for a full-time employee. The proposed budget recommends that a part-time Events Assistant see a reduction in hours as well.
Between the three positions cut, the two positions frozen and the reduction in hours, the Town will save nearly $300,000.
Watkins said the budget team cut out as many of the optional and discretionary items as possible and then looked at cutting jobs.
A position for Information Technology Specialist position was frozen during the current fiscal year after a personnel transfer, but the proposed budget opens up the vacancy, creating a cost of more than $67,000. Since the position was frozen, the Town has learned the IT Dept. was cut too short for the day-to-day activities as well as the number of special projects needed.
Employees could see more cuts with the proposal of reductions to merit awards and mid-year pay increases. The average merit-based increases currently are three percent. The new pay increases would average at one and a half percent, saving Garner $150,000. However, Watkins said very few cities and towns have been able to maintain the 50 percent mark of the merit awards and he is proud that Garner was one of them.
The capital outlay items would total less than $365,000, which is only about 1.69 percent of the budget.
One proposed way of cutting back is to close the Police Department’s West District Office. The savings would total about $25,000 each year. Police Chief Brandon Zuidema proposed the cutback and Watkins said it wouldn’t result in any lost jobs. The West District Office has been used for roll call and training purposes. The personnel from that office will now be distributed to the other three police locations in town.
“We’re just trying to fine tune everything,” Watkins said.
The lean budget is a result of the harsh economic status among state and national budgets and not a statement about Garner, Watkins said. The cuts would be seen throughout several departments and agencies.
“We’ve had some hard decisions to make,” Watkins said. “We looked at everything.”
Property taxes decreased from the current operating budget. It’s just one more effect Garner has seen from the ConAgra Foods accident last June. Since the explosion took out the packaging portion of the plant, the property value fell. This has left Garner with less money as well. Also, vehicles have decreased in value and not as many new vehicles have been purchased, lowering property taxes even further.
The silver lining
However, there would be some positives of the new budget. The proposal calls for no tax increases and the fund balance would not be needed as a revenue source.
Watkins wrote in his Budget Message to the Town Council there wouldn’t be any noticeable changes to services provided by the Town. Making sure customers didn’t see any significant changes to services was the budget team’s top priority.
“I believe we have accomplished that,” Watkins said.
The staff worked extensively to cut back on health costs for employees, reducing rates from 32 percent to 21 percent. While the insurance company will see a higher deductible from each Garner employee, the Town will supplement costs. The 21 percent will be budgeted in addition to the current fiscal year’s health cost allotment. Employees will see an eight and a half percent increase in their deductible. However, the Town will reimburse them the difference between the old and new policies, making the deductible the same as the current cost. This is only for employees with dependent coverage. Those without dependent coverage won’t see any increases.
The Town staff also introduced the new program budget for the Parks and Recreation Dept., which took nearly 14 months to put into effect. Breaking down the department by program, each special event and class held will have its own budget with expenses and revenue. This allows the Town to see the benefits and costs of each program and manage the department better.
“We’re really proud of it. It’s going to be a great tool,” Watkins said. “For the first time, we have good, hard data on that.”
While the budget team considered adding the closure of the Lake Benson boathouse to the proposed budget, Watkins said it has been taken off the table.
The budget is expected to be passed June 15. There is a budget session May 13 for Council members to discuss the proposed budget and decision packages.
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