5 full-time personnel on list; also replacement of 6 trucks

After slashing the city’s budget in light of declining sales tax and property tax revenues tied to the economic downturn, city officials have made a priority list of what cuts they’d like to see restored.

Four of the items on the “top 6” list are personnel additions. One is adding another three firefighters per shift, which would put the city at 18 firefighters per shift, closed to the goal of 19 per shift as outlined by national firefighting standards.

Adding those three employees will cost $168,000.

Also on the list is a staff assistant for the police department to assist the police chief. Currently no one on the administrative staff is assigned to handle such a function.

The other personnel changes contemplated on the priority list include transitioning the staff assistant at the Gathering Place recreation center from a part-time to a full-time job. Another priority is to add a part-time assistant for human resources, which has just two full-time employees.

The only capital item on the top 6 list is to replace six natural gas powered trucks, a transaction that would be financed. That would allow the city to shutter its natural gas facility, which would actually save the city money, according to City Manager Bernie McMullen.

A trip to the landscape architects convention is also on the wish list to be restored, at a cost of $2,000.
The estimated cost for the entire priority list is $272,000, which works out to .16 mills. That figure includes the cost of salaries, benefits, uniforms, supplies and vehicles, according to city staff.

There’s also a list compiled of other priorities for the city, divided up by each department. That list, which also includes personnel and capital items, totals to $1.13 million.