No Rejection, Deliberations to Start Again

The City Council backed away from rejecting Mayor Dan Mylott's budget this morning, and instead is creating a new series of budget deliberations that will include the mayor at the meetings.

According to a councilor, the motion to reject the mayor was rejected itself, 11-0. Instead, the councilors are going to meet with Mylott and go over the budget, with a schedule to be remade. The clock is ticking a little bit, with 29 days to the July 1 start of the Fiscal Year.

Last night, Councilor David Clark outlined the new plan, and said it was a good move toward how he would like to see budget proceed.

"I want to hear the budget first hand from department heads and the mayor. It is his budget, when we accept it finally, then it’s our budget as well," Clark said. "I always thought the mayor should be in there presenting it, and I think that’s what you’re going to see."

Clark was dead-on after this morning's meeting.

Clark said he is interesting in particular to hear about public safety funding. He is very much in favor of hiring new officers, but he wants to hear more information regarding the purchasing of new motor vehicles. He said he also wants to have a discussion regarding whether the city should hire new office and/or buy new vehicles in one shot, or spread the hiring and purchases out over time. One of the reasons Clark favors more officers is to improve officer safety during the night shift.

"I remember there used to be two in a cruiser, now you see one guy in a cruiser. To me it’s just dangerous," Clark said.

Clark said it's also likely that some budget maneuvers will be made to increase school funding. One possible area is Medicaid reimbursements. The city is given one lump sum, and traditionally through a process it is divided between the schools and the general fund. It's possible that divvying up of the funding could be changed to the school's advantage.

Finally, Clark had some interesting insights on the budget negotiations, particularly ways to save money over the long term. Two ideas he floated last night: One is expanding the step system from 10 years to 15 years, but keeping the same maximum pay level. That would save the city thousands by holding off on maximum salaries for five more years. His proposal would grandfather current employees, which might make it easier to pass with current membership. The other item would be changing the city's health care payment percentage. Currently, the city pays 75 percent. Clark said the city should consider lowering that percentage -- again, for new employees.

----

A note to readers: Yesterday, I sent an e-mail to every city councilor who has an e-mail address listed on the city's website. I'm going to call those without e-mails, but that's a time-consuming process that I haven't gotten to yet. Clark called me back last night, and Stephan Hay has responded and we're talking to him this weekend. I also heard from one more councilor this morning after directly e-mailing the councilor for an update this morning. I'll fill you in who I do and don't hear from in the future. I think we're all interested in where folks stand, and who's willing to discuss with us.