Chattanooga City Council members are now reviewing funding requests from agencies and city departments for creating the city’s fiscal year 2016-2017 budget. The item that has created the most discussion is personnel raises for the city’s 1,500 employees, excluding the fire and police departments.
The plan presented to the council members by Personnel Director Todd Dockery, was based on percentages of a person’s current salary. The percentage was higher for those on the lowest pay levels. For those whose pay is below $30,000, a raise would be 4 percent. If an individual makes $30,000-$40,000, the average pay increase would be 2.9 percent, from $40,000-$50,000 it would be 2.24 percent and for those being paid $50,000 and above, the raise would be 2 percent. The total cost of raises would be slightly over a million dollars for the city.
Councilman Ken Smith asked Mr. Dockery if he had considered a flat rate across the board, because he said, the highest paid 155 employees would get three times the amount going to the lowest paid 635 workers. To divide the total dollar amount equally among all employees would not change the total amount the city would pay in raises. It would give every employee an increase of $1,123, including people at both the top and bottom end of the pay scale. “They’re all valuable employees,” said Councilman Moses Freeman.
In 2008 the city adopted a pay plan that has 12-15 steps an employee must move up through to get salary increases, but the city is not sticking to that plan, said Councilman Moses Freeman. There is a problem when an employee reaches the top designation on a particular level and does not move beyond that because pay raises stop at that point. There is no defined way of how people move through the pay grades, such as years of service. Also a problem is that people who are being hired now are sometimes employed at rates that are at a higher level than someone who has worked for the city for many years. A raise is one way that a employee can move past a stagnant pay level, Councilwoman Carol Berz, who heads the finance committee, was told.
Mr. Dockery told the council that the personnel department is aware that adjustments need to be made to the system. He said that the “livable wage” rises and has overtaken the lower seven levels of the pay plan. He said he is looking at how to raise those salary ranges and be fiscally responsible while doing it.
"Do people leave because of the salaries, and how do they affect the turnover rate?" asked Councilman Chip Henderson. The total compensation plan with better benefits packages is one way the city has of overcoming this, said Mr. Dockery. Another way to help people achieve a livable wage would be to hire part-time employees year-round, making them full-time employees who are paid 12 months.
As for the fire and police departments, market studies are being done, said Councilman Russell Gilbert, to make sure their wages are market compatible, and to assure the pay plan levels are where they need to be to provide a career path for those employees.
In general government, the council must make a judgment of how much of each department’s request should or can be funded by the city. The city attorney’s office has requested $1,597,000. Most of the increase is for converting record storage. Now an inventory has been made but it needs to be moved into an organized space and will be scanned, said City Attorney Wade Hinton. About 50 percent of the original inventory will be retained.
The council itself has requested $9 million to operate in 2017, which was based on what was actually spent in 2016. It appears to be an increase; however the way that money was moved around, is actually a decrease in the council’s budget, said Councilman Chris Anderson.
The internal auditor has requested an increase of $20,000 for a total of $625,493. The increase is to pay a new person hired for the department from another agency who was at a higher pay level. That person also joined the city’s insurance plan, which adds to the cost.
The purchasing department asked for $890,700, which is a $14,000 decrease from the previous year, in response to staffing and programming changes. An employee who left was replaced by another at a lower pay level.
The 311 Call Center asked for an increase of $82,000 for a total of $690,524. The increase will support more software, and will add two customer service positions. The larger staff will allow time for employees to leave the telephones for training sessions on the proper procedures they should be using. It was recognized that this department has a tough job, handling mostly people’s problems after they have been “passed down the line.” These operators have multiple jobs, including being the customer service for sewer bills. New software will provide citizens with a portal to follow up on their questions.
The finance department represents the city court clerks and judicial support. The amount requested is flat compared to last year.
The executive branch has asked for $1,655,000. This is a decrease of $6,000 from the previous year.
Other funds are comprised of golf courses, economic development that includes the Urban League, Enterprise Center. The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, which supports general economic development work, asked for $450,000 and $75,000 was requested for the Enterprise South marketing, which Hamilton County is supposed to match. The Innovation Center has also asked for support.
Revenue is provided by the State Street Aid Fund that pays for a lot of maintenance in the way of paving and general repairs. And the hotel/motel tax provides the occupancy tax which saw a 10-percent increase this year. Councilman Chris Anderson noted that the Ironman competitions had a large economic impact on both the city and on Hamilton County.
Other funds providing income include a regional communications center managed by the city. Debt service and interceptor sewer services, which are operated with the charges that are made to those who use it, also provide income. The solid waste department showed that income from the sale of mulch decreased in 2016 largely due to the fact that the huge amount that was created by tornadoes in 2011 has been depleted. Tipping fees are created by wood and brush recyclables and at $512,000 remain steady. The city’s tipping fees concern revenue that comes from the city landfill which handles 80,000 tons of garbage a year. That amount also includes “benevolent garbage” from thrift stores at no charge. Several large commercial collectors use the landfill because of convenience. The city’s share of the cost to dispose of garbage is nearly $6 million.
Income from traffic cameras will be phased out along with the use of most of the cameras. That source of income will need to be replaced since it funds the entire driver’s education program across the city. There also is a narcotics fund with very restrictive uses for the police department.
Councilwoman Berz reminded the council members that these are public meetings and are for discussing the requests. She said the administration is presenting its ideas for the next year and the council is discussing them and establishing their position about the appeals for funding. On June 21 at the commission meeting there will be continued public discussion. Once the budget is on the agenda the council will have the ability to amend it and money can be rearranged. This will be followed by another reading before becoming final. An interim budget will be ready if the final budget is not ready on July 1.