Celina officials discussed a proposed budget Tuesday that includes a 30 percent water rate increase and no pay raises for city employees.
Mayor Luke Collins said the state reviewed the financial plan and provided a positive assessment despite the difficult decisions. Collins said the city is facing the same economic pressures as residents from inflation.
“Unfortunately, in this budget there are no pay increases for the employees which you know, sad to say, I am disappointed,” Collins said. “I’d like to see them get a dollar an hour raise. Maybe in November or something when things are better, we can do that.”
Collins said the city has been impacted by significant inflation over the last several years. Collins said the water rate hike is necessary to ensure the city can continue to function and meet its obligations to its residents and rate payers. Aldermen Mike Boles said the current budget does not include a property tax increase.
“We all know what’s happened with inflation in the last five or six years and the City of Celina is not immune to inflation no more than anybody else is,” Collins said.
The board spent a significant portion of the meeting fine-tuning specific line items where actual expenditures from the previous year did not align with proposed figures. Alderman Mike Boles said he was concerned about the accuracy of the revenue projections, specifically regarding beer taxes and sanitation fees.
“Between the proposed budget last year and actual budget last year and then proposed budget for next year, the the numbers are different,” Boles said. “I mean for example if we budgeted $3,000 for penalties, we actually spent $539 for penalties, but we budgeted another $3,000 for penalties.”
CPA Carol Abney, joined the meeting via speakerphone to address questions about “miscellaneous” accounts that totaled approximately $200,000 across various departments. Carol said the state comptroller’s office has recommended that the city eliminate these catch-all accounts in favor of more specific bookkeeping.
“I agree that we will move to get rid of those but I can’t do it right now,” Abney said. “I’ve got to get in there and make sure that everything is moved correctly.”
Collins said the city is also dealing with a “money crunch” that has delayed planned sidewalk repairs and street paving projects. Collins said the city must prioritize its sewer plant and environmental responsibilities to the Cumberland River while navigating state requirements.
“We’ve got the state breathing down our back over this sewer plant down here and even if the state wasn’t breathing down our back you know that’s that’s our water and this is our planet,” Collins said. “We don’t want to destroy the Cumberland River.”
The board will meet in a week for the first vote on the budget.
