FORT SMITH -- City Administrator Carl Geffken said Tuesday he won't find enough money in the proposed 2017 budget to give employees a 1 percent cost-of-living raise by the time directors vote on the budget Dec. 20.
In the final budget meeting Monday night, seven directors asked Geffken to try to find the $275,000 in the budget to give employees the 1 percent raise.
The proposed budget is balanced, totaling more than $41.5 million next year, but city officials say the margin between revenue and expenses is just $46,000.
Geffken said he couldn't find any excess money in the general fund without doing an in-depth analysis of how many employees the city could spare and whether there's any wasteful spending to be found.
That analysis will take more than the two weeks directors have given him, he said. He said he believed the directors should pass the budget and allow him and staff to do the analyses early next year.
In a lengthy discussion Monday, the directors expressed disappointment there wasn't enough money in the general fund to give raises to city employees.
Revenue is expected to stay stagnant next year and for 2018, Finance Director Jennifer Walker reported Monday.
In their discussion, directors cast about without success for budgeted expenses to cut.
Director Tracy Pennartz suggested cutting educational incentives for employees. Director George Catsavis said cutting the incentives would trigger an "mass exodus" of employees.
Some departments could be "top heavy," Director Andre Good said, and could stand to have some supervisory positions cut. He also wondered if parking meters downtown could be eliminated and, with them, the employees who maintain them.
Pennartz said she saw only three ways to find money for raises: by cutting staff, cutting overtime or instituting furloughs.
Geffken said major reductions in staff would require a reduction in services the city offers. He also said he found it difficult to consider firing staff in order to give raises.
The overtime budget in the proposed general fund budget for next year is $2.3 million, Geffken said, but he hesitated to consider cutting overtime. He said, for example, police patrol positions that have been offered but as yet unfilled require existing officers to work overtime to keep the patrol beats at full strength.
The directors also discussed a proposal Geffken gave to directors at their first budget meeting last week with three additional revenue sources that could bring an estimated $1.7 million.
They were:
• A business license fee. It would charge $150 for a Fort Smith business or $10 per employee for a business with more than 25 employees, with a maximum charge of $5,000. The license fee was estimated to generate $1.07 million a year.
• A franchise fee increase for electricity, cable, natural gas, video and telephone utilities that would generate an estimated $522,000 a year.
• A water/sewer fund franchise fee, similar to the city's existing franchise fee, that would raise an estimated $100,000 a year.
The proposal stated the additional revenue could pay for raises for employees, buy a truck and backup radio system for the Fire Department, an additional $350,000 contribution to the police and fire pension fund and two trucks for the building safety office.
But the directors rejected the proposal, under which businesses and utilities would simply pass on their costs to the consumers. Director Keith Lau said the tax burden on Fort Smith residents is heavy enough without adding more charges.
Several directors agreed, saying they had been getting complaints from residents about the taxes and fees they have to pay.
Some of the complaints were about sewer bills that have increased twice in the last two years and are scheduled to increase again in January by 25 percent.
The rates are being increased to finance government mandated improvements to the city's sewer system in a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice that is estimated to cost the city $480 million over 12 years.
NW News on 12/07/2016