The city of Poplar Bluff projects a balanced budget in 2022 that will have room for a 2% employee raise, but does not add positions in areas officials say they are badly needed.
The proposed 2022 budget will be voted on by city council at the Dec. 20 council meeting.
The city expects to see revenues of approximately $13.6 million in the next budget year, according to information presented Monday to the city council.
“The general (fund) does include a 2% raise for all employees,” said city manager Matt Winters.
This will be an annual cost of approximately $230,000 for about 150 employees paid through the general revenue fund. Another 80 employees in Municipal Utilities are covered under a 2021 union contract that promised 5% raises annually for 5 years, paid for with utility revenues.
General fund employees are also receiving a temporary 3% raise for the next three years paid for from American Rescue Plan Act funds.
__Staffing__
Winters said the police, fire and street departments are all in desperate need of additional help, something funds from the use tax could have helped with.
“All three departments are sorely understaffed right now,” he said. “Those are definitely things we would have had, if we had the use tax increase.”
The fire department is the only department currently without an assistant chief, Winters added.
He would also like to see the director’s position for the Margaret Harwell Art Museum return to full-time from part-time, but could not include that in this budget.
__Revenues__
The single largest source of general fund revenues comes from a 1-cent sales tax, predicted to raise about $6.4 million in 2022. Winters said he has budgeted a 3% increase in sales tax revenues next year.
Other significant sources of revenue include $3 million in license and permit fees, including $1.7 million received in taxes on city utilities.
Nearly $1.5 million in revenues will come from real estate and personal property taxes.
The use tax would have placed a sales tax on certain internet purchases that matched the sales tax paid in brick and mortar businesses in town. It was expected to bring in several hundred thousand dollars, if passed.
__Capital expenses__
Winters said the capital fund budget will set aside money for a new ladder truck for the fire department, and to cover a portion of the costs to demolish city hall, as well funds for some professional fees related to a new city hall building.
Capital fund revenues come from a separate, dedicated half-cent sales tax that can only be spent on items like building maintenance and department equipment.
The ladder truck will cost approximately $880,000 and is expected to take 12-24 months to arrive, Winters said.
“If approved, the money would be set aside in reserve for when it’s actually delivered,” he said. “It is a significant purchase, but it is one that is needed for the safety of our community.”
The current ladder truck is about 25 years old and has had ongoing maintenance problems, along with difficulty acquiring replacement parts, Winters said.
The fire department has tried unsuccessfully to apply for grants to help with the cost.
The first payment of more than $700,000 for the new police department will not be made until 2023, Winters added, freeing up funds this year.
Contractors have estimated the city will need to spend about $400,000 to remove asbestos and tear down the former city hall complex on Second Street, Winters said. He is asking the city council to set aside $200,000 in this budget for that project.
This budget also includes $14,400 for architecture fees for a new city hall.
__Department changes__
Both the police and fire departments saw small decreases in their funds in the proposed 2022 budget. At $5 million and $2.4 million respectively, they account for the largest department budgets in the general revenue fund.
Winters said retirements are responsible for the change, as entry-level people were hired to replace higher-wage, outgoing personnel.
A department that will see a significant increase in 2022 compared to the prior year is mosquito abatement.
The budget will increase by $173%, to $17,400 in the next year.
“It is in the budget to have one part-time employee for four nights a week, spraying half the town each night,” Winters said. “The entire town will be sprayed (a total of) twice each week during peak mosquito times.”
Trucks will run from around May to August, compared to 4-6 weeks in 2021.
“It is a reduction from what it was a couple of years ago,” Winters said. “The last time it was fully funded, we had two guys who worked five nights a week, with the whole town getting sprayed every night.”
Smaller increases of 27% and 23% respectively will be seen in the budgets for the motor pool and Municipal Court.
Municipal Court expects to have an employee retire in 2022, and an additional employee has been hired during the transition, Winters said. The motor pool had a position that was not filled in 2021, but which will be restored in the current budget.