5.5. SR 08-09-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ugust 9, 2004 Page 3 of 6 Budget Memo 2005 Expenditures In terms of providing municipal services, most everyone at the staff level feels like they are playing "catch-up" due to the 2003 and 2004 LGA cuts. At this time the budget requests are still being assembled but it is safe to say that the increase in proposed expenditures will exceed $1.1 million. It is likely that we will see requests for the combined categories of supplies, other services/charges, and transfer/capital outlay increase by about 25% or $500,000. The remaining budget category, personal services, is the key category which the City Council needs to discuss. If the above figures are "in the ballpark," then about $600,000 is available for increases in the personal services area. In 2004 the City Council hired two police officers and a building inspector that were not in the budget. Also, the second half of the parks and recreation director wages need to be incorporated in the 2005 budget. Finally, the city moved away from contracted cleaning services to the hiring of part time employees and these expenses need to be added to the personal services budget category.. (This increase for cleaning is offset by a decrease in contractual services.) Another factor that needs to be put into the equation is wage and pay plan step increases for employees. For 2005, department heads have requested an additional 12 full-time and 2 part-time employees. I am guessing at this point that we will not be able to fund anymore than the equivalent of 8 full-time positions and this guess may be a few positions too high. These requested positions are identified in the attached list as provided by the finance director. I support the first 7 full-me and the 2 part-time positions listed below for being included in the draft 2005 budget. This priority order also takes into consideration the short-term and long-term needs for staffing in various departments and the "sharing of the wealth" approach in terms of which departments got what most recently and which departments did not. All of the requests from the department heads are reasonable but we have to make a distinction between needs and wants and what we can afford. A number of the department heads will be at the August 9, 2004, worksession to answer questions from the Council. All of the staff increases can't just be for core services, such as for public safety or streets. It is clear that these are high priority areas but park services are also important for quality of life issues. Additionally, the city could not function adequately without staff to provide admimstrafive and financial services. Also, public information, such as cable TV, is important but is not a core service that is essential. Finally, the Council has been seriously considering some staff reorganization options. It is not easy to decide and to tell some department heads that they need to wait until next year for their request to be met; as we all know that "next year" sometimes never comes. The following comments are offered on the requested positions: Street Maintenance and Park Maintenance-Both requests are due to a lack of staff increases in the past few years and the growth that we are experiencing. S:~Council~Pat\Budget~ 2005 ~080904~vrksn.doc