The Sedalia City Council got one step closer to finishing the Fiscal Year 2017-18 budget during Monday night’s work session, which included adding personnel positions but no cost of living raises.
Council got a look at budget options and expected revenue streams during last week’s meeting where Finance Director Kelvin Shaw told council that city staff was budgeting for a 1.5 percent increase in sales tax revenue for FY18.
During Monday’s meeting, Shaw pointed out that a 1.5 percent increase equates to about $81,000 in additional general fund revenue, a total of $190,000 city-wide.
“That is how we can grow our expenditures without taking away from something else or stopping another service,” Shaw said of the budgeted revenue increase.
Even with that advice to begin the work session, council still ended its discussions with the budget at a roughly $414,000 deficit in the general fund — not the entire budget — as council added several general fund expenditures that outweigh expected general fund revenues; the draft was already at a $280,000 deficit before council’s decisions.
“Mid-term we need to bring that now $414,000 negative down to $0,” Shaw said at the conclusion of the work session. “Short-term, it’s not a problem. Mid-term, we’ve got to lay out a strategy to get there. Long-term, we absolutely have to lay out a strategy to get there because we can only sustain that for really a short period of time and then we’re going to get ourselves into a situation where we’re in a corner we can’t get back out of.”
Over the coming months after the final budget is approved, council and city staff will watch spending and find areas to cut costs to get the general revenue fund back to a $0 balance. Last year’s budget was 72 percent personnel costs, but the FY18 draft is 83 percent personnel costs, meaning there’s not a lot of wiggle room to cut project costs.
Shaw and City Administrator Gary Edwards posed a number of questions to council regarding budget requests from various departments, asking for their direction.
Council chose to include two additional Sedalia Police Department patrol officers as requested — the draft budget included one — and one additional communications officer, one less than requested. SPD Chief John DeGonia said that while nothing has been decided, he has received positive feedback from the Pettis County Ambulance District about possibly funding an additional communications officer since SPD handles PCAD’s calls.
To help make room for the additional patrol officer, DeGonia offered to decrease his request of four new patrol cars down to three, noting one of the cars will be paid for through insurance money as the vehicle was totaled in an accident where the other driver was at fault.
Council also agreed to the additional officer after Ward 1 Councilwoman Jo Lynn Turley suggested removing the new rental inspector from the Code Enforcement Department, included due to pending conversations with the Rental Inspection Committee, which council agreed with.
“We don’t even have a rental inspection policy yet and we’re going to add someone to the staff? I think that’s next year’s budget,” Turley said.
City employees won’t be receiving a cost of living raise in FY18 due to other budget requests. Eligible employees that pass their evaluation will receive a normal step increase.
“To make these numbers work, no COLAs are included in the budget,” Edwards told council.
Sedalia Fire Chief Mike Ditzfeld told council that part of the Public Safety Pay Plan approved for SFD and SPD in last year’s budget, which was created to help with recruitment and retention, includes revisiting it each year to discuss COLA increases to remain competitive with other cities.
While several council members said they would like to see COLA raises, they were in agreement that they aren’t something the city can afford.
Another noticeable decrease is the Street Department — after several record years of $1 million in funding, FY18 will only include $600,000. Public Works Director Brenda Ardrey said it would be feasible as the department continues testing reclamation of about 43 blocks of road. There is no money allocated for sidewalks, down from last year’s $100,000.
Public Works will see a different large project though, as about $505,000 is included for West Lift Station upgrades, needed to accommodate growth and economic development in that area of the city. Two of three requested storm drainage projects are also included.
A large part of the general fund deficit is from council deciding to save $150,000 for future SFD expenses, including an estimated $600,000 pumper truck that is part of the department’s replacement schedule for the next fiscal year.
Council asked Cemetery Director Roger Waters and Chief Building Official Andy Burt to look into state surplus for their dump truck and vehicle requests, respectively. Both Waters and Burt said their department’s new vehicles are desperately needed — Waters said the cemetery dump truck, a 1993 model, is an “accident waiting to happen” because of so many issues.
Shaw will revise the draft budget and bring it back to council at the March 6 meeting for further discussion. There will be a public hearing regarding the budget before the March 20 meeting, and during that meeting council will vote on the final budget.
Council convened a special meeting after the work session to vote on two airport items that were on a previous meeting agenda but were tabled.
• Approved an ordinance approving and accepting a state block grant agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for design apron reconstruction and north hangar apron expansion at the Sedalia Regional Airport. The cost is $1.9 million, with a 10 percent city match.
• Approved an ordinance approving and accepting a state block grant agreement with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for Runway 5/23 study, airport layout plan update and environmental assessment for runway improvements at the Sedalia Regional Airport. The city’s cost is $12,010. Council members Don Meier, Bob Cross and Jeff Leeman voted no.
