At a special called meeting on Wednesday, the city of Red Bank on the first of two readings, passed the fiscal year 2022-2023 budget of $7,504,445 with a $715,596 deficit. The property tax rate remains the same, at $1.10 per every $100 of assessed value. A recent pay rate study provided advice used in creating the budget which includes competitive pay for employees. Six new positions will be added.
A new fire department trainer will be hired at $88,593 to replace Chief Mark Mathews who retired.
The stormwater fees will increase in 2023 from $40 to $60.
A new position of stormwater specialist will be funded with a $20 increased stormwater fee per household. The stormwater specialist will be paid $106,066. Other new employees will be paid from jobs that are currently vacant and already in the budget, including a city planner which will replace a codes enforcer, and an assistant city recorder who be hired to fill a vacant position in the finance department.
Those jobs are already funded and are needed, said Commissioner Ruth Jeno, after the commission meeting, but a sticking point during the meeting was about the remaining two new positions. A “parks professional” and an in-house IT specialist. City Manager Martin Granum said there is a community demand for parks and the city is receiving a lot of interest in the public spaces. Some of the many responsibilities of this position would be to do a parks assessment, planning, prepare a budget for a parks department, specialized and routine maintenance and to develop departmental policies. Commissioner Jeno asked if the person hired would have experience and also know how to write grants that could benefit the city. The response was maybe but that person could be trained to and grow into the job.
The city is small and volunteer boards and individuals have organized the recreational teams and games and the public works department has always been available to take care of the properties. There are three volunteer boards that the city has a partnership with: the girl’s softball association, the pool committee and the Red Bank Boxing Club, said Commissioner Jeno who asked to put hiring for the parks professional on hold. The salary for this new position has been set at $68,888, which includes a benefits package. She said she is not opposed to having a parks director, but it is not needed at this time. She said once a decision has been made for the use of the old Red Bank Middle School property, which is expected to include public spaces, would be a better time to hire for this job. She said a budget amendment can be done to add that salary if and when it is needed.
A second new job that Commissioner Jeno questioned was an IT Specialist to handle in-house issues. The addition of this job was not discussed prior to the special called meeting to adopt the 2023 budget, she said. The city currently has a contract with R J Young for IT needs, plus Police Chief Dan Seymour is being paid $8,000 a year in addition to his job in the police department to take care of IT services. Some said it takes him away from policing, but others believe he has the time available to handle that work. This job would pay $97,134 a year, but was not planned for prior to the meeting, when the majority of commissioners took the advice of the city manager to create the job for internal IT needs. Again, Commissioner Jeno was the only vote in opposition believing that IT support was already covered. Additionally it is unknown how the position would be funded since it was added at the last minute, and not budgeted.
Both the city manager and Finance Director John Alexander expressed confidence that the city will be able to add the six new jobs without a tax increase. Addressing the projected deficit of $715,596 in the general fund and the newly added and unfunded IT position, Mr. Granum said that he is not worried, Red Bank’s revenue side is easy to manage and very stable, predictable and forecastable and the sixth new position that was added at the first reading of the budget ordinance should be no problem to fund. Commissioner Jeno again opposed adding the new job saying she was “not comfortable spending money if we don't have it in her hands.”
Following the meeting Commissioner Jeno said that people are all in for the good ideas and new jobs, but they do not realize how much they will cost and really be paying themselves from their property tax payments. But they can see the actual costs associated with each of the additional six jobs.