City council holds budget work session

Part one of a two-part series
MONTE VISTA— Monte Vista City Council met last Tuesday evening, June 13 for a special work session with the city’s Finance Director Heather Hixson and City Administrator Rob Vance to discuss problems with the 2017 budget.
Hixson stated there was a discrepancy in how some funds were budgeted, stating they were budgeting considerably higher than what their revenue was for the 2016 fiscal year and there were several unexpected expenses that will create a major dent in the general fund budget by the end of 2017. TABOR rules require the city to maintain $101,000 allotment in the general fund for emergencies, but without that the city is projected to have only roughly $113,000 in the fund, not including that allotment, at the end of 2017. The fund is currently at roughly $246,000, not including the emergency allotment.
Unexpected expenses including salaries for the contract interim city clerk and finance director, prior to Hixson and Unita Vance being hired, were part of the reason for the discrepancy, but the largest gaps were lease payments of about $36,000 which were not factored into the budget “for an unknown reason” Hixson explained. Professional services, like the Information Technology (IT) department and Colorado State Patrol Dispatch Services, were also not budgeted correctly. The latter was budgeted for about half of what the dispatch services cost in 2016, and the city employees’ overtime has already used more than 75 percent of what they were allotted, only six months into the year. Vance added “Over budgeting in the revenue and under budgeting in the expenditures” was a large problem with the 2017 budget. Hixson added the revenue was not that significantly far below what it should be, but under budgeting was the larger issue. One example was the cost of jail transports, which was budgeted at $25,000 but cost nearly $40,000 in the 2016 fiscal year.
Councilor Joe Schlabach asked about the allotment for the IT department, noting the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) signed between Monte Vista and Alamosa was designed to reduce costs. Schlabach explained council was informed the IT department was previously costing about $80,000 per year and the IGA should have been a source of “huge savings, but the numbers aren’t adding up.” Hixson stated in her research she could only find that before the IGA, the IT department cost roughly $10,000 per year and is now budgeted for $50,000. The IGA was done under the leadership of a previous finance director and City Manager Forrest Neuerburg, who is expected to return to work this week, so Schlabach suggested council and Hixson speak with Neuerburg about the discrepancy.
Councilor Matthew Martinez expressed frustration on the part of council, “It’s good to be able to plan ahead for what to expect to cut in 2018, but it’s frustrating that each new finance director changes budgeting methods and tells us we are approving a balanced budget, and then we find these mistakes after approving it.” Hixson stated she understands council’s frustration and can’t speak to the methods of her predecessor but assured council she has 12 years of experience in auditing and is a certified public accountant. She noted she did have to make several changes to how 2016’s budget was reported, “…just to be in basic compliance with accepted accounting practices.”
Mayor Debbie Garcia pointed out the new ordinance the city is working on at the direction of council, which removes jail as a consequence for many municipal offenses or unpaid fines in favor of more community service should reduce the $40,000 cost of transportation. Vance noted the use of closed circuit television appearances between the court and the Rio Grande County jail have already begun and Alamosa County will also connect with Monte Vista for $1,000, so the city will see some major savings in transportation for court appearances but discouraged council from considering that as a major solution, “Judge Powell doesn’t send people to jail for unpaid fines; he sends them to jail for failing to appear,” and Vance stated he anticipates a spike in crime when jail is removed as a consequence.
Schlabach also asked how the police department overtime had increased so significantly, from $15,000 in all of 2016 to nearly $20,000 only six months into the year. Hixson explained the PD used to have a 28-day tour of duty system, where they would be scheduled for 28 days for a pay period and if there was overtime, the chief had more flexibility and could switch officers’ schedules around to avoid overtime being paid. This was changed in 2016 to a standard 80-hour work week which made overtime go up and salaries go down. The change “is rumored to be at the request of the officers but I wasn’t here and can’t confirm that,” stated Hixson, but pointed out the tour of duty was difficult for human resources to handle separately. Vance also explained how comp time and holiday pay could vary in public works and the police department, with some employees insisting they be paid double time and a half for holidays. Hixson stated there were payroll inconsistencies in every pay period in 2016 and she felt much of the salary issues rested on the leadership of the department heads and “sometimes the city is held hostage by its employees.” She also stated the handbook’s payroll policies need to be tightened significantly because it is unclear how to handle leftover comp time, which is supposed to be a “use it or lose it” policy but too many exceptions are being made and some employees are rolling it over or cashing it out.
Garcia questioned the possibility of selling city property. Vance answered as long as the property is not currently being used for public use, the city can consider selling it. This would leave the old PD/Guzlow building, the old Valley Publishing building and two small lots, one by the bowling alley and one by Montez Park as possibilities. Council and Hixson also discussed requiring tenants of public buildings to pay more in rent or to pay their own utilities. Hixson stated the utilities at the Vali Theater are a large expense which she thinks should stop being paid for by the city. Garcia also pointed out the chamber of commerce/information center also does not pay the city and Vance stated public works also completes boiler maintenance and the city covers supplies. Martinez expressed hesitation at these propositions, “we made a choice as council to take on the Vali” and pointed out charging utilities or rent was something to consider but was a slippery slope, “if you charge the chamber, then you’ll have to charge the golf course too.” Vance encouraged council to consider charging tenants rent or utilities for the 2018 fiscal year but cautioned, “The city’s relationship with the chamber and the golf course isn’t fantastic” and although the city has been working to improve those relationships, charging them rent was not going likely to improve the situation.
Part two in next week’s Monte Vista Journal will discuss the possibility of city department cuts.


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