The McMinnville Board of Aldermen approved the city budget Tuesday with new dedicated funding for stormwater projects and playground improvements.
Alderman Keri Morton said the city should establish a specific funding source for the stormwater coordinator to manage local infrastructure needs. Morton said the board previously discussed using savings from a vacant salary to bolster the line item formerly labeled as other materials.
“I know some of these other things they can be, but they they don’t have to be, but in lieu of the fact that we have a stormwater coordinator, I just think it would be good if she had her own bucket of money that she could use out of as she saw fit and need for stormwater,” Morton said.
Mayor Ryle Chastain said the city saved approximately $110,000 by eliminating a headcount and shifting responsibilities to other staff members. Chastain said a portion of those savings was used to fund an administrative assistant position, leaving a balance of some $78,246 for the board to allocate.
“As much as I want money to go toward stormwater, $78,246 isn’t going to cut it, I mean it’s not enough so I don’t think it needs to go there,” Alderman Rachel Kirby said.
Morton said that while the initial allocation might not cover every project, establishing the fund provides a necessary starting point for the department. Morton said the board should also consider a pay increase for the finance director, who absorbed the duties of the city recorder.
“So I know how the like the employee structure this year, how how the raises are going, but I would like to see that our finance director, because she has taken on a new role, I would like to see her either given an extra step in money or somehow her to be compensated for taking on that role,” Morton said.
Finance Director Samantha Moore said the city typically provides a pay increase when an employee is promoted or takes on significant additional responsibilities. Moore said the proposed one-step increase would cost approximately $3,645 in personnel costs for the General Fund.
“If you want to give some recognition to someone who’s absorbed a full-time position, it would have to come out of the excess money because we don’t have extra money anywhere else,” Moore said.
The board voted to take the funds for the salary increase from the newly created stormwater line item before splitting the remaining balance. Chastain said half of the remaining $74,596 will be designated for the “jungle gym” at a local park to serve as seed money for future upgrades.
“And that would give us seed money and we can try to raise some money and see where it goes,” Chastain said. “And if we can’t raise the money then that money’s still there and we can reallocate it as we see fit.”
The final budget configuration allocates $37,298 for stormwater materials and $37,298 for park ground maintenance and playground repairs. Chastain said the park funding was placed into a specific line item to ensure the money is earmarked specifically for the jungle gym project.
In other business, the board passed the first reading of an ordinance to amend the municipal code regarding water and sewer customer deposits.
