City employees went before the City Council Thursday evening to ask for pay increases as they face higher prices at the gasoline station, higher electric bills, higher natural gas bills and rising tabs at the grocery store.
City Manager Ford Patton explained that state law now requires the city to call two public hearings, not one, before the City Council can increase taxes above the effective rate. The effective rate is the tax rate necessary to bring in the same amount of tax income the city collected last year.
This year’s effective rate for the city is 0.56954 per $100 of assessed value.
Patton said the city used to be able to pass through an increase on that rate of as much as 3 percent without having to call a public hearing and even then the council was only required to hold one public hearing when considering a tax increase lower than the state’s rollback rate.
The city manager handed out information showing that an increase of one percent would bring in an additional $19,327 in projected revenue and an increase of one cent per $100 would bring the city a projected increase of $33,967.
Mayor Kenneth Chesshir, Mayor Pro Tem John Fulghum and Councilmen Jimbo Martinez and David Carabajal were at the meeting to discuss the budget needs of several city departments. Councilman Mike Scotten was not present and sent along an e-mail that Patton shared with the council.
City Secretary Tomas P. Saenz asked for more money to keep a part-time employee on his staff and requested funds for some office materials and election equipment he expects his department will need.
City Building Inspector Lanny Holland asked for salary increases for the two people in his department, including a substantial increase for City Litter Abatement Officer Kathleen Echevarria. He defended that request and reminded councilmen that Ms. Echevarria had started with the city at a much lower pay rate than her background warranted.
Police Chief Joe Treviño requested additional funds for emergency food supplies, more money for ammunition and additional funds for uniform allowances to pay the higher cost of dry cleaning.
Treviño said the police had gotten a $50-a-month allowance for uniform maintenance for the entire 19 years he had been with the department and he wanted that doubled.
It was during that discussion that Fulghum asked Patton to consider the cost of giving city employees a 4 percent, across-the-board pay increase this year, instead of 3 percent.
Municipal Court Clerk Zenaida Silva was the only department head to say she would not request any increases in her department’s budget. She said the department would be moving into a new building soon and Municipal Judge Joe Salinas said the city will be spending plenty on that department this year.
“I won’t ask for anything,” Mrs. Silva said. “I’ll respect his request.”
Senior Animal Control Officer Johnny Carabajal requested an additional phone line for his office, more money for animal feed and a pay increase.
Carabajal said the facilities at the animal shelter on Cook Road also need work.
Before adjourning, the council was told by Patton that they would need to discuss other spending needs before agreeing on a final budget for next year.
Those included spending for Emergency Medical Services, engineering services, the containers the city provides at the citizens collection station at the city yard on South Jackson Street, the Joe Barnhart Public Library, mosquito control and the city’s portion of funding for Bee County’s Emergency Management operation.
Patton also plans to budget $30,000 for roof repairs at City Hall and said the city needs to do something about replacing the building’s fire alarm system.
Patton recommended that the council hold its next budget workshop session at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14.
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