On the second and final vote, with Commissioner Tonya Sadler voting in opposition, the Collegedale Commissioners passed the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget.
Before the vote several items were discussed, including the replacement of a roofed pavilion and covered sand box in the Imagination Station playground. City Manager Wayon Hines said that grant funding has been planned to build it, but if it does not come, his recommendation is to not move forward.
It was also agreed to review city employee salaries for next year’s budget. Mr. Hines said that current salaries are based on a study done by an independent company five years ago to establish competitive salaries, and at that time the city caught up with market rates for surrounding municipalities but since then inflation has caused changes that will be considered next year.
Police vehicle replacement was also questioned. This budget plans for six new vehicles. The city manager said there are four in the yearly replacement plan, but two additional vehicles are in the budge because the city hired an additional officer and another vehicle was wrecked and totaled during the past year.
The budget amendment for 2023-2024 was also passed, which accounts for unplanned expenses and income that took place during the year.
A new fee structure for the library was also approved on second reading, with the understanding that it may be amended if funding from Hamilton County is not received when the county finalizes its budget. The county plans to increase its funding for the Collegedale Library from $15,000 to $30,000. Use of the library will not be free for those living in Hamilton County outside Collegedale’s city limits, but the fees are reduced. The new structure is focused on helping school-aged children. With the change, children will not have to pay for the summer reading program. If the funding planned from the county fails to come, this policy can be amended.
The commissioners also approved renewing a citation fee of five dollars for any guilty plea or a judgement of guilty on traffic citations. This is done every five years, said the city manager, to help offset expenses related to devices used for e-ticket writing by the police department.
There was a discussion about how to enforce rental reservations for the pavilion at The Commons. The procedure that has been discussed is for the reservation to be made on the city’s reservation system. The proposal is to post a sign of notification that the facility is subject to being rented and reserved. If there is a dispute, since no city employee is present the whole time the park is opened, the non-emergency number for the police department should be called, where employees have been properly trained to respond to a situation that is in conflict. The city manager will investigate how other cities reserve park facilities.
Vice Mayor Tim Johnson introduced the idea of putting up new “Welcome to Collegedale” signs to replace 10-year-old signs that he said are outdated. The high cost will be an issue, and Mr. Hines suggested for the commissioners to look at examples of a $10,000 and a $20,000 sign before the next workshop in July. There could be as many as six-seven that are needed with a cost of $100,000 or higher.