SPRINGDALE -- Mayor Doug Sprouse presented his 2019 budget Thursday night to the City Council, which included about $1.2 million in salary increases for employees.
Sprouse said he wants to increase many employees' wages to make them comparable with those doing similar jobs in elsewhere in Northwest Arkansas. The city commissioned a compensation study this year, Sprouse said, and the raises recommended are included in his budget proposal.
"Some of these are pretty hefty, especially those with double-digit increases," Sprouse told council members. "But I haven't proposed anything I don't think we need."
Sprouse proposed the money come from the way the council allocates its total funding. The city puts 50 percent of the revenue from a 1-cent sales tax into the general operating fund, said Wyman Morgan, the city's director of administration and finance. The remaining 50 percent pays off the debt on the 2012 bond at $4.6 million a year. Any money remaining goes into the capital improvement fund.
This tax earned the city $2.5 million for the first 10 months of 2018, Morgan said.
Sprouse asked the council to consider increasing the percentage going into the general fund to 60 or 62 to cover the wage increases. But that will leave less for the capital improvement fund, he said.
Fire Chief Mike Irwin told council members the Fire Department will need to hire six employees this year to staff Station 7, with completion expected in May. The project is running ahead of schedule.
Irwin said the firefighters would need to be hired by March, if they are to be trained and ready by the time the station opens. The department originally budgeted for a July hiring date, but if hired then, the firefighters wouldn't be available to start until November.
If the Fire Department hires the crew in January, the total department salary cost will be $14,034,000, Irwin said. If hired in July, it will be $13,808,505.
Those few months of extra service by those hired will require the percentage going into the general fund to be 62 percent, Sprouse said.
"You must remember, we are adding to the fleet," Irwin said. "This will come before you every time you open up a new station." The city projects two more to be built with the 2018 bond money.
"We will reduce the growth of the CIP fund," Sprouse said of his budget proposal. "But I think that it's important our employees are brought up to market. Jobs everywhere are tough to fill. There's a lot of folks that we need to retain and folks and talents we need to attract."
The city will have started by the end of the year about 20 projects paid for by $160 million from the bond issue voters in February. "We anticipating spending in excess of $70 million of the bond proceeds in 2019," Sprouse said.
City department heads came to the table with few capital improvement requests for 2019. For example, Courtney Kremer, director of Animal Services, asked for none. A new shelter will be built and equipped from 2018 bond money.
Council member Colby Fulfer asked if she projected any capital improvement needs over the next few years.
Kremer listed only the three vehicles driven by animal control officers, which date to 2011 and 2015.
Council members will continue to review department budgets in meetings Nov. 19 and Nov. 29.
By law, the mayor is responsible for presenting a budget to the City Council on or before Dec. 1, Morgan said. Council members have until Feb. 1 to approve a spending budget.
NW News on 11/16/2018