By GINA KINSLOW
Glasgow Daily Times
HORSE CAVE
June 26, 2009 12:23 pm
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Council members made several changes Thursday night to the city’s 2009-10 proposed budget, including employee pay raises.
On Tuesday night Mayor Odell Martin proposed to give City Clerk Ann Matera and Licensing Clerk Brenda Crain each a 4 percent pay increase.
He also proposed to increase the police chief and assistant chief’s salaries from $12.39 to $15.51 per hour, an increase of $2.58 per hour, which is higher than what was proposed for Matera and Crain.
“Our pay is very much under Cave City and it is under Munfordville,” said Martin. “Cave City has just raised their officers all to $15 per hour.”
He also pointed out that Munfordville’s police chief is earning $15 per hour, while the rest of the police officers earn $14 per hour.
Martin said he believed the city should take care of its police officers and pay them well, because if the city didn’t, it would lose the police officers it has to other cities who can offer better pay.
Councilwoman Sue Nunn said she didn’t have a problem with the proposed $2.58 per hour raise for the police officers, but said she felt like Matera and Crain should receive the same amount.
“I just can’t see how we can leave them out,” she said.
The council then proposed a 6 percent pay increase for Matera and Crain, plus the city’s four police officers.
“I can live with 6 percent,” said Councilman Randall Curry, even though he said he has heard some complaints about the city’s police department. “There is some question about how efficient our police department is because people say they never see them.”
The proposed 6 percent pay increase brings Matera’s pay up to $15.07 from $14.22 per hour, and Crain’s pay to $10.20 from $9.62. According to a notation in an explanation of city employee salaries and benefits, this will be the first pay increase Matera and Crain have had since July 2007.
The city’s police chief and assistant police chief’s salaries will increase to $13.71 from $12.93 per hour, while the other two police officers salaries will increase to $11.66 per hour from $10 per hour.
The city has recently hired a new police officer, who will begin working for the city at a rate of $10 per hour.
The policemen’s pay raises do not include their incentive pay or hazardous duty retirement.
The council also agreed to increase the salary of one of the city’s maintenance department employees so that both employees salaries are in line with another.
One of the employees, Elvin Edwards, who takes care of the city’s cemeteries, is earning $10 per hour. He received a $1.50 pay increase on Jan. 1 increasing his salary from $8.50 to $10 per hour.
The other employee, Steven Martin, is being paid $11.50 per hour and was hired in June 2008.
“Just to make it fair, I think Martin and Edwards should be making the same because they are doing the same job,” Councilwoman Vickie Rogers said.
The mayor explained that Martin was hired at $11.50 per hour because that was the rate he was paid at his previous job.
Rogers then proposed increasing Edwards pay to $11 per hour.
The council also agreed to give Fire Chief Donnie Parker, who works part-time, a 6 percent pay increase, which will increase his pay from $1,000 per month to $1,060.
Another area of the budget discussed Thursday night included city employees health insurance.
Martin had proposed Tuesday night that the city stop offering healthcare benefits to city employees spouses, and cover only the city employees.
Councilwoman Joanne Smith was opposed to that idea.
“I think it would be dreadful to suddenly cut them off,” she said.
The council reviewed two health insurance proposals offering different deductibles, but opted to invite insurance company representatives to speak to them about the proposals at a later date. The council also agreed to continue with the city’s current healthcare plan due to it not expiring until Aug. 1.
Professional fees for attorneys, architects and auditors were also discussed Thursday night. The council agreed to allocate more money for those expenses, increasing the amount from the 2008-09 fiscal year from $16,000 to $20,000 for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
Prior to the proposed budget changes Horse Cave would have only had $700 remaining at the end of the fiscal year including carryover funds. The changes if enacted would place the city well into a deficit.
A newsletter the city published during the 2008-09 fiscal year won’t be published in the 2009-10 fiscal year. The council agreed Thursday night to stop its publication, saving the city $1,800.
“I’m not in favor of the newsletter as it’s being used,” Smith said.
The idea to publish a newsletter and distribute it among city residents was a good idea, she said, but she said she didn’t think it should be used a propaganda tool.
The council also discussed paying off the principle on the loan acquired to renovate the Thomas House, a historic home that is rented for various occasions. The council agreed to continue making loan payments until it can find out how much the it would take to pay off the principle.
It also agreed to move ahead with plans to finish the development of Maple Avenue Park by budgeting $50,000.
Martin cautioned council members at this point and told them they were about to go over budget and that the city would have to use money set aside for construction of a new fire station to finish the park.
The paving of the city’s streets was also discussed. The council agreed to make a list of streets that need paving and to talk to a contractor about how much it would cost to pave those streets.
Two items considered to be capitol projects that were not included in the budget Thursday night was the construction of a stage and a gazebo near the town’s traffic light.
The council did not take action Thursday to approve an ordinance on first reading adopting the city’s 2009-10 budget, because it was unsure what the budget totals were after all the changes it had proposed. It agreed to meet in special session Monday night to consider approving the first reading of the ordinance and to meet again on Tuesday night to give final approval of the budget.
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