Maysville City Commissioners approved the first reading of the 2012 fiscal year budget during a special meeting and public hearing Wednesday.
The proposed budget didn’t include pay raises for any city employee or department.
A second meeting will be held at noon on Monday, June 27, for commissioners to vote on the second reading of the budget. The new fiscal year begins July 1, 2011, and ends June 30, 2012.
Although the plight of employees who have not had a raise in three years was presented at a budget workshop meeting in May and the regular commissioners’ meeting June 9, there was no further discussion of the matter during Wednesday’s meeting.
As the current budget stands, projected revenues for fiscal yard 2011/2012 are $10 million against more than $9 million in projected expenses, including $2.1 million appropriated for capital expenditures.
Even though the city announced an $8 million cushion in it’s “rainy day” fund during the May budget workshop, the funds are considered a reserve account for emergencies and to fill in the gap when general fund revenues don’t meet general fund expenses.
While city employees have gone without a pay raise for three years, other entities approached the city for salary contributions for the upcoming year.
During the May budget workshop, Commissioner Judy Pfeffer raised objections to contribution requests to fund an administrative assistant position at the Chamber of Commerce in the amount of $7,900, which had previously been funded through the Maysville-Mason County Convention and Visitors Bureau budget. Pfeffer also raised objections to a salary request in the amount of $20,000 to fund the manager position at the Maysville Entrepreneurial Center, which had been previously funded through a state grant; and a contribution request from the Maysville Players in the amount of $10,000 for programs and employee salary; commissioners approved a $3,000 donation to programs, the same as in previous year to the Players.
Pfeffer said at the time if city employees were not to get pay increases, the city shouldn’t fund salaries for positions outside the employment of city hall. The contribution requests were unanimously denied by Commissioners Rick Litton, Kelly Ashley, John Mains, Pfeffer and Mayor David Cartmell.
In other business, commissioners:
— Approved a resolution authorizing a contract with MedBen for administration of the city’s health insurance benefits.
— Approved a resolution authorizing a contract with Red Pixel to launch a phone application for the city. The application through iTunes will give users the ability to view information about the city, including such things as GPS coordinates, museums, businesses, restaurants and more.
— Approved a resolution authorizing a trust participation agreement with the Kentucky League of Cities for liability insurance.
— Set the date of Monday, June 27, at noon for a special meeting to approve the second reading of the proposed 2012 budget.
