AUDIO & SUMMARY/MINUTES
City of Sultan Council Hearing - Nov. 21, 2006 re 2007 BUDGET
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MINUTES - Nov. 21, 2006 City of Sultan Public Hearing RE 2007 Budget
(Audio
File #1, 8:41 min., 1.5 mb)
The public hearing on the 2007 Preliminary budget was called
to order in the Sultan Community Center by Mayor Tolson. Councilmembers
present: Champeaux, Slawson, Seehuus, Flower, and Blair.
Staff Report:
Gordon Hey, Interim Finance Director, advised that there were several
issues that need resolution in order to complete the budget document.
These issues included code enforcement, the Police Chief's salary, non-
represented employee's salary increases and the addition of a utility
worker. Detailed information on the issues was provided to the Council.
Code Enforcement/Animal Control: The current budget amount is $750
and the Council had requested that different options be provided for consideration.
Staff recommended that the 2006 allocation of $17,000 be set in the budget
and that a detailed report with alternatives be brought back to the Council
in January 2007. Discussion was held on the options presented by Snohomish
County, the police levy failure and the need to set a specific dollar
amount as a "placeholder" in the budget.
(Audio
File #2, 6:44 min., 1.2 mb)
Police Chief's Salary: The Mayor recommended that
the salary for the Police Chief be set at $82,000 per year and comparables
from other similar sized cities was provided for review. Brief discussion
was held on the percentage increase (20%) and the impact of the highway
on the job. The Mayor advised that the proposed cost of living increase
for non-represented employees is 4.2%.
(Audio File #3, 9:42 min., 1.7 mb)
Staff for the Utility Departments was briefly discussed.
The anticipated new housing units will require an additional day of garbage
collection around mid year. It was recommended that an employee be included
in the budget for possible hire in the middle of the year. The staff needs
for the Water and Sewer Departments will be reviewed next year.
Detailed information on the mitigation fees was provided to the Council
for review.
Public Comments:
Loretta Storm: Requested a copy of the impact fee report. In regards
to comparables for the Police, the city needs to consider the homeless
situation in the city and US 2. The Highway problems take up a large portion
of the police staff's time. Noted that other jurisdictions have a Records
Clerk to help with the office work. A 20% increase sounds big but the
Chief has not had anything but COLAs and he deserves the increase.
On a motion by Councilmember Champeaux, seconded by Councilmember Blair,
the public hearing was closed. All ayes
NOTES ON OUR DIGITAL RECORDING AND FILES:
- This audio is accurate and complete. However, we urge that people contact the City directly to obtain the final agenda, and certified minutes, ordinances, resolutions or other documents: City Clerk Laura Koenig 360-793-2231. If you receive the automated message, you can bypass it and go directly to her voicemail by pressing "2" and then the pound (#) sign.
- As of the October 26, 2006 council meeting, the city began recording meetings using a Morantz MP3 digital recorder, which has records directly from the microphones to the recorder, thus, clearly than the audio we present here, with is captured from "room" sound from a microphone located near the podium. If you wish to secure a copy of the City's audio, contact Clerk Koenig.
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