Published November 09, 2009 11:25 pm - A proposed 2010 municipal budget unveiled at Monday’s City Council meeting depends heavily on sweeping changes in city structure to become a reality, said City Manager Robert Schaumleffel Jr.,
Conneaut budget can be balanced with big changes
By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com Star Beacon
CONNEAUT — A proposed 2010 municipal budget unveiled at Monday’s City Council meeting depends heavily on sweeping changes in city structure to become a reality, said City Manager Robert Schaumleffel Jr.,
The $16.7 million overall budget hinges on big changes: Using unencumbered funds to prevent layoffs, a sewer rate hike, re-examining job classifications and introducing a mandatory health plan and higher deductibles.
The alternative? “There will be additional reductions in budget allocations and employee layoffs in 2010,” Schaumleffel said.
The manager, reading from the budget's cover letter, also urged council to appoint a citizens panel to address “long-term needs.”
Council will convene the first in a series of budget work sessions at 7 p.m. Nov. 18.
The city is again at the mercy of a declining revenue stream and growing operating costs, Schaumleffel said. For example, the sour economy has hacked away at city income tax collections at a time when Ohio local government fund allocations have been sliced.
Another area of concern is the city's waste water enterprise fund, which faces a $205,000 deficit by the end of next year, Schaumleffel said. The fund is solely supported by revenue from customers.
To keep the fund solvent, a rate hike of at least 20 percent will be necessary, the manager said.
The citizens committee Schaumleffel is seeking is needed to help the city determine the best way to allocate its dollars. The group could help grapple with problems that result when the minority of city residents (40 percent) are wage-earners and the majority are either retired or unemployed, he said.
As a result of that inequity, the committee could ponder various tax and levy options, Schaumleffel said.
Conneaut's plummeting population and huge geographical size (second largest in Ohio per square miles, trailing only Columbus) is a recipe for concern, the manager said. The water plant is pumping 5 million gallons a month because of dwindling need, council was told.
Contract negotiations will begin soon with the city's four employee unions. Temporary wage freezes approved by some unions earlier this year expire at the start of December, resulting in 3.5 percent pay hikes for members. Similar wage increase should be afforded the city's non-union workers, Schaumleffel said.
It's critical the employees embrace the restructuring and revamped benefit packages, the manager said. “I'm asking the employees to work with me...so we can all survive,” he said.
In other business, Ward 1 Councilman Dave Campbell announced a settlement in a legal matter involving him stemming from litigation filed earlier this year by ex-public works director Robert Howland. The city's insurance carrier agreed to pay $2,500 to Howland's attorney, Nicholas Iarocci, and $500 to Robert Naylor, who represented Campbell, the councilman said.
Naylor agreed to donate his $500 to Iarocci, Campbell said. Another $3,000 in costs must be borne by Campbell, he said.
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