Editor’s note: City Manager Matt Zimmerman outlined a three-step plan of budget cuts last week to help balance the City of Emporia’s 2008 general fund. In this four-part series, The Gazette looks at each step and possibilities for generating revenue.
For the city of Emporia, 2008 was supposed to be a year for reinforcements. Instead, it’s looking more like a year to save up and wait.
That city planner Emporia hasn’t had for five years? Make it six.
The parks director that would allow Mark McAnarney to concentrate on his job of assistant city manager again? Not this time.
A paid assistant manager for the animal shelter? Gone to the dogs.
This year, the city may not be able to afford any of it.
City Manager Matt Zimmerman’s red pencil has scratched through those proposed jobs and eight others, as well as cutting part-time hours at the golf course by 10 percent. Total savings: $427,562, the first step toward fixing a 2008 general fund that’s $2.5 million out of balance.
Those were new proposed jobs, not existing ones. With 16 vacancies, Zimmerman has been outspoken about his feelings that the city workforce is short-staffed as it is.
“Can we get it done? Sure, because we’ve always gotten it done,” Zimmerman told the Emporia City Commission on Wednesday. “Are we paying more in the long term? Yes.”
Those aren’t the only hard choices ahead. Zimmerman and his staff also have to prepare for a wage and job study that might fix those vacancies and try to keep a cash reserve against emergencies, a city savings account if you will. The goal is to attempt that without raising property taxes by more than 4 mills, the city commission’s self-imposed limit.
It’s not an enviable job, to say the least. Especially when it means undoing years of buy-now, pay-later decisions.
Charging it
When a consumer hits credit cards too hard, there are some tough choices ahead. To Zimmerman, that sums up Emporia’s budget situation in a nutshell.
The widening of 30th Avenue, the 18th Avenue and Graphic Arts Road roundabout and the realignment of U.S. Highway 50 were needed projects and good to have, Zimmerman said. But they’re also all paid for through bond funds.
That gets expensive.
Eight different road projects on the west side of Emporia add up to about $6.5 million worth of bonds to be repaid. That works out to more than 4 mills a year of property tax that can’t be budgeted elsewhere — like, say, the general fund.
“We’ve been approving projects and bonding them out, but we haven’t increased the mill levy to pay for these projects and cover the bonds and interest,” Zimmerman said. “We’ve been using our credit cards to pay for projects we can’t pay for today.
“There’s nothing wrong with that, but now it’s starting to hit us in a crunch.”
All together, the city’s cost for bond and interest comes to $3.33 million next year, up $368,000 from this year. Zimmerman’s hoping to slowly bring that down, becoming less reliant on bonds and more able to meet expenses with cash in hand.
But this year, that means hunkering down. And while shifting the expenses on projects is a long-term solution, anything done in the here and now has to look at jobs.
Down to the core
It’s a truism in Emporia politics: 70 percent of the city budget comes from personnel costs. Every new job means more wages to pay, more health insurance to cover, more employer-related expenses to meet.
So the plan is not to have new jobs next year. Not when the old jobs need so much attention.
“I feel like, in some ways, the next couple of years are going to be good growth years for the city,” Zimmerman said in a Tuesday interview. “So as much as possible, I want to keep the existing services going as much as possible.
“The need is there. And it’s really not fair that we ask Mark McAnarney to not only be the assistant city manager but also to run the parks department. But a status quo budget is all of the positions we currently have.”
Or at least, currently should have. To fill its many vacancies — half of them in police and dispatch alone — the city is thinking about doing a study later this year on Emporia’s pay, benefits and staffing levels.
That may help in the future, but it’s creating budget problems in the present. The city is setting aside $637,579 to cover any changes recommended by the study. Remember, 70 percent of that budget is personnel, so even small changes can have a big impact.
But Commissioner Jim Kessler said he thought the wage pool might be a bit too deep.
“I know we’ve got some employees that are underpaid,” Kessler said at a recent meeting on proposed budgeting. “But we probably have some that are right where they should be and some that are overpaid. I think we’ve got too much in there for contingency.”
Zimmerman disagreed. The study may conclude that Emporia is in decent shape, he said, but the city can’t count on it.
“We’ve said if we do this study, we need to fund the results of this study,” Zimmerman said. “Otherwise, not only are we out the costs of the study, but it would be a killer to morale.”
Another possibility that commissioners have started to talk about is ending the residency requirements for city workers. Right now, the city requires its employees to live in Lyon County, something Commissioner Bobbie Agler called “old-school” thinking.
“That is a huge issue for our employees,” Zimmerman said. “Absolutely huge.”
The job that lived
One of the new positions on the “cut” list may rise from the ashes: a housing inspector to help enforce the city’s rental housing code at a proposed salary of $45,386. The city’s Human Relations Commission is still revising the code, but plans right now are for the inspection office to be self-funding through fees and fines.
HRC member Tom Myers, who first drafted the existing rental housing code, said the idea was to keep licensing fees low, below $50.
“This isn’t a profit kind of thing by any means,” Myers said. “But the budget crunch is such that it just has to be self-supporting.”
Why the inspector? Because one of the city’s goals this year has been to put some teeth into the housing code, which so far is enforced only on a complaint basis. Initially, Myers said, some had hoped the city could provide some seed money until the program got up to speed. But from early on, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen.
Wherever the money comes from, Myers considers it a worthwhile investment. It’s a quality-of-life issue, he said, and one that a lot of potential employers look at when considering Emporia. And while most landlords do a fine job with their rental housing, he said, some definitely need a reminder.
“The vast majority will be paying a licensing fee when they’re great landlords,” he said. “But in order to fund a mechanism for the few who are terrible about it, we have to do it.”
He did regret seeing one other job fall through the cracks — the city planner, a position often promoted by Commissioner Julie Johnson that has been just as often postponed by the city.
“The city planner always seems to fall out, doesn’t it?” Myers said. “And if you think about it, it doesn’t make sense not to invest in that. But you can’t have everything.”
The jobs that aren’t
These new jobs were initially proposed for the 2008 budget, but now are in line to be cut:
City planner $76,428
Park director $73,812
Housing inspector $45,386
Assistant manager, animal shelter
$34,032
Prosecution clerk, city court $33,817
Maintenance worker, park $31,685
Animal control officer $30,841
Zookeeper $30,377
Maintenance worker, civic auditorium $30,298
Secretary, park $29,344
10 percent cut in part-time hours,
golf course $6,187
Part-time intern, administration $5,355
Total cuts $427,562
concerned (anonymous) says...
An increase in the city sales tax could help eliminate some of the budget concerns. Why not spread the tax burden out among ALL city residents and have visitors that travel through or stay in Emporia help support our budget. A small percentage increase in sales tax should not be detrimental to non homeowers and visitors, but could be a big help in reducing the dependency on property owners.
Also, do the represented figures for the proposed jobs being cut include payroll taxes and benefits?
August 3, 2007 at 2:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
treetrunk (anonymous) says...
No one can stay in business if they are paying 70% of their income into personnel costs. Maybe this is the reason I do not see workers out and about. The city can not afford to buy supplies or materials. They are only paying wages instead of being able to repair anything. I second the sales tax increase as I have seen it work elsewhere and save the home owners from the whole burden.
August 3, 2007 at 3:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
treetrunk....the city is a service oriented group. not a manufacturing business. not a grocery store. the employees, very short staffed that they are (which is why you see so few) are busy picking up dead cats, filling holes in the street, cutting park lawns, picking up trash. there is no supplies or materials to make into anything to see....and yes, the sales tax is a great idea. we are at the low end of all cities our size as far as that goes
August 3, 2007 at 4:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
netloafer (anonymous) says...
The sales tax might work if the mill levy decreases as revenues from the sales tax increase. I'm not convinced that will happen, and it might mean that our sales tax will increase and so will our mill levy.
Any entity, service or otherwise, that has such high fixed costs is overstaffed. It may not be in hourly positions, but it is somewhere, probably in staff, management, or administrative areas.
Our problem is still the high poverty rates, low household incomes. Until that changes we'll have too few dollars chasing too many services.
August 3, 2007 at 5:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
ok, why if we are over budget does it mean that we are overstaffed??? maybe the city just funds way too many special interests like the roundabout, 30th ave widening, 18th ave stuff, industrial st stuff....which all benefit the higher end people on the west side...70 percent of a service based, and not a manufacturing based industry is probably about right from what i heard.
oh, and what jobs would you suggest cutting or what salaries should we lower or cut? reminder, city employees have had only two raises in the last 7 1/2 yrs of 1 percent one year and 1 1/4 percent the other. what have you gotten at your job netloafer?
August 3, 2007 at 5:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
bring a big catch pole kstrebuchet and some dog treats. you are thinking in old world standards for job wages.
oh, and would you trust a wage study done by the same people getting the increases in pay??? let the contractor do his or her job and tell the city if they are over paid, underpaid, or paid just right. i think you will see a mix of all of them.
and by the way, the 9 and 10 dollar an hour jobs is why we have such a poor county. everybody complains the city has a lack of jobs which pay well, then they whine when somebody wants to raise salaries...WHICH IS IT PEOPLE???
August 3, 2007 at 6:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
I think I am gonna quit my job as a FF/EMT and go work as a park maintenance worker. That would be a $5000 dollar a year increase for me.
August 3, 2007 at 6:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
could just go pack dog food for 15$ an hour?
August 3, 2007 at 6:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
actually thought about it
August 3, 2007 at 6:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
treetrunk (anonymous) says...
How much education does it require to pick up road kill? Remember, all these jobs require an additional cost of 35% to pay for benefits, social security, etc. We have got to stop this gravy train. In the real world, if you employer is not making ends meet, you are out of a job. I never did work where raises were guranteed. If necessary, you have to take a pay cut or look for work elsewhere. Government positions should be accountable for productivity just like any other employee. We do not owe them a living. They should earn it a the same pay as private industry.
August 3, 2007 at 7:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporian (anonymous) says...
I musta missed the gravy train. Some employees work 52 hrs a week then go to a second job to suport their families. Tell me where to get on this gravy train please!
August 3, 2007 at 7:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hottopics (anonymous) says...
There were A LOT of people uphappy about the Shelter Manager rolling in over 30K. And she griped about her job all the time before she bailed out.
But I think it is a HUGE shame that the animal shelter has 'gone to the dogs'. We DID have volunteers WANTING to help that cause. (Clearing my throat) That costs NOTHING! This town has gone to more than just the dogs. Why would anyone want to stay here? Doctors are leaving, THE GOOD ONES because they pay here just plain sucks. We cant afford better housing because TAXES are higher than Mount Everest. Jobs, what jobs. Who can afford to take a job less than $10 bucks an hour. It doesnt cover even one person to live right. But we sure have a beautiful court house. New schools we cant fund right. And everyone needs to learn to speak Spanish in order to get THAT job we need. Our mall is a disaster. Good grief we could go on for days about this city and its needs for a life support system.
The only way for most of us to survive is to leave Emporia, but we cant afford to move. Talk about a dog chasing its own tail.
August 3, 2007 at 10:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pizza (anonymous) says...
With those kinds of salaries it's no wonder the city is in trouble. And with all the free spending the commission has been doing in recent years with borrowed money, again, it's no wonder they are in trouble. It had to bite them sooner or later. I'll bet Zimmerman wonders what kind of a snake pit he got himself into.
Don't I remember Julie Johnson just had to have that roundabout and claimed the Feds would pay roughly 75% of it so it was ok to spend way more than necessary because we ddn't have to pay for it anyway. Afterall Fed money is like free. What happened to that? Don't hear much about those decisions now. Where is the common sense in city management? What about fiduciary responsibility the commissioners are suppposed to have? At least one of the big spending commissioners is gone. No wonder so many are leaving Emporia. Holy Cow, $73,000 for a park director! Sign me up.
August 3, 2007 at 10:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sciguy (anonymous) says...
Are those listed amounts salary only, or full employee cost (salary, benefits, overhead, etc.)?
August 3, 2007 at 11:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
Here are my thoughts regarding salaries:
When they list these jobs as being vacant, WHO are they trying to recruit? Are they requiring, say, a 4 year degree? Are they requiring over 5 years experience? Do they put a potential applicant through a wringer (say, by sitting him/her on one side of a conference table and 5 others on the other side) and scare them off?
Here's my point: If they are wanting someone with a 4 year degree, there are not many college grads who would stay here at that pay--because that pay is great to live in Emporia but is crap anywhere else....so the college grad, a/k/a "white collar" worker, leaves for bigger and better (and who can blame them?)
OTOH, if they want someone with experience, well, that pay isn't going to draw many people IN to Emporia because it is considered low. I know that if I'm looking for a job, I know my worth at previous jobs, so I want to move UP, not down or equal (well, maybe equal). And the more experience I have, the more I expect to be paid....
So, maybe they need to change their requirements for filling these positions.....how about $12/hour to start? Why does it all have to be salary (do they REALLY work on Saturdays and holidays)? I think hourly would be cheaper.
Finally--I agree with the person who said the biggest money was in upper management and/or administrative. It's ALWAYS like that in a business....the CEO makes MILLIONS while the employees are $h!t on. Then they claim to not know it.
M
August 3, 2007 at 11:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
Ok kstrebuchet and treetrunk. If all of you think that city employees are so overpaid and have such great benefits, where were you when they had open job positions?? or where was kstrebuchet's son? (if he was old enough). Not many apply and the reason is repeated time after time..."we don't want to do that job for that low a wage".
Truth is, 15$ an hour is not much of a wage any more with the property values/taxes going up as they are. True, the cost of living in Emporia is fairly low, but try feeding a family of 4 or housing them on 15 $ an hour.
Lastly, for all of you who want to cut or freeze wages for city employees, how would you feel if police or fire service, or for that matter city water or trash service was cut because of a shortage of employees or equipment? "sorry sir, we would have saved your child/father/wife from the house fire but we couldn't start our 1977 era fire engine to get there. (no offense firemen). Or, "sorry, you can only use your water from 10am to 10pm because the equipment at the city water treatment plant is short of parts and they don't have enough employees to man the plant overnight. I guess you folks could all take your own trash to the dump if you want to save the city money....
As for productivity, city employees are held accountable through a supervisor based evaluation process. Just like a lot of other jobs.
I think the salary should fit the job. If you check most cities in kansas and the neighboring states, you will find that we are in the lower middle for pay. When compared to Newton, Hutchinson, Salina, Ottawa, Hays, Manhattan, and others of close to Emporia's size, you will find that their city employees are paid more to start out with and that most of their employees get standard cost of living increases. If you work for a real world company for 10 years and get raises 2 or 3 of those years, how long do you think you can keep up with gas prices, grocery prices, or the cost of going to a doctor in this town???
I think fair is all anybody asks. Especially when Zimmerman says to let the salary survey tell the tale. I don't think for one second that he is saying that everybody should get a raise, just those who need to be brought up to where the average is for cities our size. If you aren't aware of what other city employees are paid, go to their web sites and look at the open position announcements. You might be suprised to see what other cities pay. I was.
August 4, 2007 at 6:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
Oh, i forgot....the pay rates/salaries you see listed above are not true to what is being paid currently from what i understand after talking to friends of mine who work for the city. You might stop and ask some of the parks department employees or zookeepers what they make an hour. I'm pretty sure it's more along the lines of 7 to 12 dollars an hour depending on their title and status (seasonal or full time).
Maybe what you are seeing is a combination of pay plus benefits totalled for what it would cost overall for that employee??? I bet if you call the city they could explain.
As for Animal Control...try going to the shelter and volunteering for a few days or helping one of the guys track down a dangerous dog who had gotten out of it's pen and all you have is a pole with a rope on it??? have fun with that one for 7 to 11 dollars an hour
August 4, 2007 at 7:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
netloafer (anonymous) says...
I don't think the problem is in the hourly areas. When I wrote about overstaffing I was targeting staff and management,particularly upper management.
I've never been a part of any organization, even the really good ones, that weren't overstaffed in those areas. I don't know how much could be saved, but I suspect there could be some significant cuts made there without interrupting city services.
The other point I was trying to make was that until we bring in the right types of companies paying the types of wages that can sustain a vibrant city, we are going to continue on the downward spiral.
August 4, 2007 at 8:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
treetrunk (anonymous) says...
Simply stated. Privatize these positions; trash pickup, the golf course, the swimming pool, the airport, road repairs and animal control. I'll bet that the present city employees would be shocked by what their pay would be if the market place decided their income. They would then be forced to complete with the rest of us in a market place that is only paying $7-$10/per hour.
August 4, 2007 at 8:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
treetrunk, who pays the private companies for the services then?? it's still either the city or the citizens individually. i have parents who live in a big city. they pay a lot more for trash removal than we do here because it's a private company that does it. same with the rest of it. for those who use the services, the cost would be a lot more from privatizing the services because of the overhead, the individual cost of insurance for small companies, the other bosses they would have to pay, and equipment cost.
as for the animal control stuff, if people would spay and neuter their pets like bob barker asked them to, most of the problem would go away.
August 4, 2007 at 10:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
treetrunk (anonymous) says...
Guess what? You only pay if you use them. Contracts for trash removal and road repairs would be let to the lowest bidder. I have never seen where private industry costs more than government for anything. They have to be competitive to stay in business.
August 4, 2007 at 1:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hottopics (anonymous) says...
If we had a fundraiser or more money to pay for the spay and neutering, more people would do it. Once again, for the average person in this city cant afford $130 vet bill no matter how important it is. I think the animal could run itself with mandatory licensing of animals and mandatory spay programs. Yes there is a assisted program in place but I dont think it is as effective as it could be. So many people in this city want to complain about issues but not stand up to find a solution and follow through. The rest think its a waste of time because we are so outdated and who will really get it done.
I wonder if the new commissioners really knew what they were getting themselves into. It will take a village to fix these problems. Not upperclass business men sitting on a board.
August 4, 2007 at 2:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
ok treetrunk you win....start your own trash collection service
August 4, 2007 at 5:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
ok mr french wallsmasher...
1. family of 4 includes parents....2 parents 2 kids...1 parent 3 kids...get the idea??
2. animal control has a catch pole...thats it.
3. i'm terribly sorry about your job and your wages, it sucks to be stuck like that. ask a few hundred city employees and about half the rest of this town if they feel the same.
4. plenty of jobs out there at 15 dollars/hr. tell your kid to get one so you don't have to support him/her if thats a problem
5. i have no spouse. hence no second income
6. i hope they have enough emt/firefightes and deputies to pull you out of a mangled wreck if you ever need somebody to
7. congrats on the longevity of your job. as for the merit raises, i hear you have to earn those
8. if you don't own property, don't worry. the city employees finally getting a break won't cost you a dime in what property tax you don't pay.
9. and thank god last...we all need a raise, new equipment, and better benefits. stop picking on the city employees/government. if wal mart people get raises, the cost of wal mart merch goes up. if mcdonalds workers get raises, the cost of a big mac goes up..... the way the US has been the last 7 hrs is horrible and i hope it teaches everybody a lesson to GET OUT AND VOTE.
August 5, 2007 at 9:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporialifer (anonymous) says...
I'm just curious how the budget this year was even determined. Did they use last year's budget and attempt to work within those same numbers or did Zimmerman go to every Department Head and ask what their department needed for a budget in which they all needed a 10% increase? I've seen a lot of new houses going up which means more tax dollars for the city, so why are they still needing to raise the mill?
August 6, 2007 at 9:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dhcc66 (anonymous) says...
hmm..didn't think that interpreting trebuchet from french to english was namecalling...but ok
i support my three kids just fine
i do not work for the city but have very close friends who do, hence the knowledge that i have
i don't think you really want animal control to run around shooting dogs now do you??? thats pretty cruel.
from what i understand, the city has not allowed merit raises for some time now because of budget probs
lastly, hurrah for you mr hero of the people. ....i'm not going to carry on this ridiculous argument any more...go whine somewhere else
August 6, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )