Staff Writer
The City Council Finance Committee wrapped up its budget hearings Thursday, finding total tentative savings of just under $2.9 million across the City budget.
Thursday’s meeting, the longest of the three, focused on two areas of importance to Chair Daniel Davis: Departmental travel and training budgets and fleet purchases.
Each City department was asked to review its travel and training budget and eliminate what wasn’t absolutely necessary for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. The majority came back with savings of well over 50 percent. Training that was necessary for operations or needed for certification unavailable online, which Davis prefers if available, remained.
Several departments cut all such expenses, while the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Supervisor of Elections were able to find no savings. Sheriff John Rutherford and Elections Supervisor Jerry Holland said no additional cuts to an already-cut budget could be found.
When discussion ended, just under $496,000 was saved.
As for fleet management, discussion in the initial budget hearing Aug. 12 focused on maintaining departmental vehicles rather than buying new ones. The budget called for 203 new vehicles.
With no purchases in the coming year, council auditors said savings could reach close to $560,000.
But after further review, including factoring in vehicles needed for public safety, the final list included delaying the purchase of 64 vehicles among several departments that would yield a net savings of almost $201,000.
The work of the committee isn’t finished. Several issues will be taken up Tuesday during the next regular Finance Committee meeting.
The almost $2.9 million in savings enthused many of the committee members, including Council President Jack Webb, who stepped in as the final number was being read by Council auditors.
“I walked in at a very good time,” said Webb, who thanked the members for their efforts.
Davis told Webb he appreciated the committee Webb had assembled, which included five former Council presidents, to dive into the budget in an attempt to realize savings.
A public hearing on the budget will be Sept. 14. The Council will receive the budget and is scheduled to vote on it Sept. 28.
In other developments:
• Absentee ballots will have postage on them after all, at least for the November general election. Finance Committee member Ray Holt brought the issue up again toward the end of the session, especially since Jacksonville is a strong military town with deployed personnel. The committee approved about $23,000 to fund postage for absentee ballots for the November election. The Supervisor of Elections office earlier had requested about $67,000 total, which was denied. Its request for postage for the two spring elections will be further reviewed.
• One of the heavily debated topics, both in the morning and afternoon sessions, was $350,000 to fund a wellness program for qualified City employees. The 16-week nutrition and exercise program would focus on reducing or eliminating costly claims for eight diseases: asthma, secondary cholesterol, coronary artery disease, diabetes, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and morbid obesity. City Central Operations Director Devin Reed said the program could save the overall insurance plan, which rose 10 percent this year, in future negotiations if fewer claims are made. Davis argued that being healthy is a personal choice and the program in many ways rewards bad behavior instead of good behavior. The issue will be further reviewed.
• Other issues for further review include mowing in public parks and rights-of-way and fleet fuel prices.
• While several citizens, many formerly on the Jacksonville Public Library board, used the initial public comment session to ask the committee to review its budget adjustment and change in accountability language, neither was done. During the last budget hearing, the committee approved allocating funds from the materials budget, specifically from the purchase of DVDs and CDs, to restore hours. In addition, an amendment called for the library executive director to report directly to Council instead of the board.
• The committee voted to forgo raises for City Council members and reduce their salaries by 3 percent, in line with what happened to other departments. Davis said it was consistent and important for Council to lead by example during tough budget times.
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