SEBASTIAN — Sebastian city employees will no longer have to take an unpaid day off each month, the Sebastian City Council decided Wednesday when it passed the new city budget and property tax rate.
“Continued budget relief measures implemented in past years, including reducing positions through attrition, eliminating management positions, early retirement incentives, police pension reform, creating a 2-tier employee health insurance program, requiring employee health insurance contributions and freezing COLA and merit increases, enabled us to eliminate the mandatory 12 furlough days for (Fiscal Year) 2014 after requiring this for the past four years,” explained City Manager Al Minner.
With virtually all the questions answered, comments made and details explained, City Council Wednesday adopted the Fiscal Year 2013-14 budget of $21.8 million and the new millage rate, which at 3.7166 mills, remained the same as the previous year. Council also passed a resolution adopting the 6-Year Capital Improvement Plan for FY 2014-2019.
Minner told the Council that the primary budget goals were to avoid a property tax increase, excessive reserve spending, and reductions in the city’s workforce that would impact service levels.
Minner stated that personnel expenditures present a challenge that “necessitates special mention as approximately 76 percent of the total proposed General Fund budget is allocated to personnel costs” with salaries and benefits governed by the Public Employees Association and the Police Benevolent Association labor collective bargaining agreements.
The PEA membership has ratified theirs; the PBA has rejected theirs and will vote on a newly crafted CBA Sept. 30 and Oct. 2.
Although any personnel modifications have been made, “several long term challenges still exist,” Minner explained.
Healthcare benefits are one.
“Last year, the city creatively addressed healthcare cost increases by creating a 2-tier employee benefit plan, implementing employee monthly health care contributions and creating a 100 percent city-funded health care reserve account to eliminate deductible costs for plan participants,” Minner said. “This year, by applying some of the unused portion of the healthcare reserve accounts, we were able to absorb part of the increase in premiums. But it will continue to be a challenge.”
Another significant personnel factor continuously examined by administration is the number of fulltime employees per thousand population, which showed a decreasing trend between 2005 and 2013 from 7.59 employees per 1,000 residents to 5.14 per 1,000.
Minner noted a small uptick to 5.18 per 1,000 for FY 2013-14.
Replacements due to attrition or retirement will receive intense scrutiny and only be replaced when absolutely essential, according to Minner.
“While this has saved resources, organization has reached critical mass,” Minner said. “There is little redundancy in the workforce and personnel workload is stretched to capacity. Should the organization continue to operate in this manner, deserved level of service may begin to decline.”
Along with approving the budget and property tax rate, the Sebastian City Council also approved the 6-Year Capital Improvement Plan.
The first year of the plan has been incorporated in the budget and includes such items as paving improvements, railroad crossing maintenance, sidewalk repairs, police department vehicles, a computer system overhaul, an airport hangar project, and the quarter-round swale improvement program.
Projects in the following years would include City Hall and Police Department roof repairs, painting City Hall, computer firewall upgrades, expanding the Police Department parking lot, sidewalk construction, County Road 512 median landscaping, baseball field lighting at the Barber Street Sports Complex, repairs to the Barber Street bridge, and several stormwater system improvements.
“This budget,” Minner concluded, “reflects community values, goals, objectives, and ideas.”
The budget document, as well as all city public information documents, can be accessed through the city’s website http://www.cityofsebastian.org.
