AUBURN - Auburn city councilors now have just over a week to pass this year's operating budget, and on Thursday they tabled a series of amendments to the proposed budget, which contains 26 full-time staff reductions and a 9-percent tax increase.
The amendments, which include additional revenue from the school district and from a landfill expansion and cuts to various areas, could prevent all layoffs and reduce the tax levy increase to 5.8 percent. Councilors decided to meet again on Tuesday for a special meeting to revisit the budget amendments and other issues.
Councilor Matt Smith read a statement early in the meeting saying he would not support a budget containing a 5-percent tax increase that relied on transfers from landfill revenue and did not contain any management restructuring. Both Smith and Mayor Tim Lattimore have pushed for restructuring of city departments to find savings.
City Manager John Salomone proposed a restructuring plan two weeks ago, at the request of Lattimore and Smith, but has recommended delaying discussions involving major restructuring of city government until after the budget is passed.
The list of amendments include $314,000 to be transferred from the solid waste fund, which would come from additional revenue generated at the landfill if the city accepted an additional 20,000 tons a year. Councilor David Dempsey, who proposed the expansion plan, asked that the council vote to accept the $314,000 from his plan in a resolution separate from the other amendments.
Dempsey said any councilor who decided to vote against the additional landfill revenue should come with alternate plans amounting to more than $300,000 in order to still lower the tax increase and prevent layoffs.
Smith has said he wouldn't support the landfill plan because he said its success relies on future councils and staff sticking to the plan, which is set to retire all debt at the same time the final cell closes, assuming the plan isn't altered in any way.
Smith, Lattimore and councilor Bill Graney all voted against authorizing the city to hire a new firefighter and make a promotion to fill a captain position. Lattimore said he wanted to make the hire if it would decrease overtime, but he said he didn't want to vote on it until he saw how much the hire would impact overtime. In order for the hire to be reconsidered, a councilor voting against the resolution would have to ask that it be revisited.
Smith and Salomone later became involved in an unusually heated discussion, because Smith didn't believe Salomone and Comptroller Lisa Green were adhering to a council resolution passed several months ago requiring council approval for all inter-departmental transfers.
A handful of transfers, including a $330,000 transfer from contingency for fire department overtime, came before council Thursday, but Smith said there was no point in authorizing them since the payments for overtime had already been made. Green said no money had been transferred, though the budget line item for overtime currently has a negative balance, which would need to be addressed.
Salomone said it was a well-known fact that the overtime in the fire department would require a money transfer - he said he adhered to the resolution in bringing the transfers to council Thursday.
“You've usurped your power,” Smith said to Salomone. “You didn't adhere to a resolution. The money has already been cut ... You wonder why there is such a level of distrust.”
Salomone said bringing such transfers weekly was impossible to adhere to.
“You cannot stop paying for a contractual obligation for overtime,” Salomone said, adding that all councilors were aware of the situation in the fire department. “Are you telling me you didn't know that the (fire) budget was over budget? Where have you been?”
If the council does not vote on the budget by June 19, the proposed budget and any amendments voted on by the council would go into effect. So far, the council has not made any amendments to the proposed budget.
In other business:
- Next week, the council will vote to raise the water rate. In order to balance the water fund budget this year, the rate would need to increase 9 cents from $1.15 to $1.24 per 100 cubic feet. However, Green said in order to address the $100,000 deficit in the water fund and offset a three to four-month delay in implementing the increase, she recommends an increase of 25 cents, or $1.40 per 100 cubic feet.
Salomone said the water fund imbalance is largely the result of less water usage.
- The council also tabled two resolutions to accept a bid and to enter into a lease-purchase agreement for a new ladder truck for the fire department, which would cost no more than $745,000. The current truck is 27 years old and no longer complies with national fire standards. Dempsey said he wanted more time to look at the financial issues before authorizing the bid on the truck.
Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net
Councilor Matt Smith read a statement early in the meeting saying he would not support a budget containing a 5-percent tax increase that relied on transfers from landfill revenue and did not contain any management restructuring. Both Smith and Mayor Tim Lattimore have pushed for restructuring of city departments to find savings.
City Manager John Salomone proposed a restructuring plan two weeks ago, at the request of Lattimore and Smith, but has recommended delaying discussions involving major restructuring of city government until after the budget is passed.
The list of amendments include $314,000 to be transferred from the solid waste fund, which would come from additional revenue generated at the landfill if the city accepted an additional 20,000 tons a year. Councilor David Dempsey, who proposed the expansion plan, asked that the council vote to accept the $314,000 from his plan in a resolution separate from the other amendments.
Dempsey said any councilor who decided to vote against the additional landfill revenue should come with alternate plans amounting to more than $300,000 in order to still lower the tax increase and prevent layoffs.
Smith has said he wouldn't support the landfill plan because he said its success relies on future councils and staff sticking to the plan, which is set to retire all debt at the same time the final cell closes, assuming the plan isn't altered in any way.
Smith, Lattimore and councilor Bill Graney all voted against authorizing the city to hire a new firefighter and make a promotion to fill a captain position. Lattimore said he wanted to make the hire if it would decrease overtime, but he said he didn't want to vote on it until he saw how much the hire would impact overtime. In order for the hire to be reconsidered, a councilor voting against the resolution would have to ask that it be revisited.
Smith and Salomone later became involved in an unusually heated discussion, because Smith didn't believe Salomone and Comptroller Lisa Green were adhering to a council resolution passed several months ago requiring council approval for all inter-departmental transfers.
A handful of transfers, including a $330,000 transfer from contingency for fire department overtime, came before council Thursday, but Smith said there was no point in authorizing them since the payments for overtime had already been made. Green said no money had been transferred, though the budget line item for overtime currently has a negative balance, which would need to be addressed.
Salomone said it was a well-known fact that the overtime in the fire department would require a money transfer - he said he adhered to the resolution in bringing the transfers to council Thursday.
“You've usurped your power,” Smith said to Salomone. “You didn't adhere to a resolution. The money has already been cut ... You wonder why there is such a level of distrust.”
Salomone said bringing such transfers weekly was impossible to adhere to.
“You cannot stop paying for a contractual obligation for overtime,” Salomone said, adding that all councilors were aware of the situation in the fire department. “Are you telling me you didn't know that the (fire) budget was over budget? Where have you been?”
If the council does not vote on the budget by June 19, the proposed budget and any amendments voted on by the council would go into effect. So far, the council has not made any amendments to the proposed budget.
In other business:
- Next week, the council will vote to raise the water rate. In order to balance the water fund budget this year, the rate would need to increase 9 cents from $1.15 to $1.24 per 100 cubic feet. However, Green said in order to address the $100,000 deficit in the water fund and offset a three to four-month delay in implementing the increase, she recommends an increase of 25 cents, or $1.40 per 100 cubic feet.
Salomone said the water fund imbalance is largely the result of less water usage.
- The council also tabled two resolutions to accept a bid and to enter into a lease-purchase agreement for a new ladder truck for the fire department, which would cost no more than $745,000. The current truck is 27 years old and no longer complies with national fire standards. Dempsey said he wanted more time to look at the financial issues before authorizing the bid on the truck.
Staff writer Anne Gleason can be reached at 253-5311 ext 248 or at anne.gleason@lee.net