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Council to re-engage budget discussions at Tuesday’s meeting
12/1/2010 10:27:25 AM

With the deadline for finalizing the city's 2011 financial roadmap fast approaching, community members can expect budget discussions to dominate the next Liberty Lake City Council meeting Tuesday.

Mayor Wendy Van Orman said most of the budget discussions would likely involve where unbudgeted funds will go. These include funds from the increased property tax levy and money from the state liquor tax. The liquor tax money was not included in the initial budget proposal because of state initiatives to end them that have since been voted down.

In addition, Van Orman said the council will also be able to reappoint funds for the City Council and mayor salary increases to other areas of the budget. 

"As far as I'm concerned, the issue of the salaries is pretty much a moot point now," Community Development Director Doug Smith said. "I believe discussion at the next meeting will render them null and void."

Since the last meeting, City Council member have expressed interest in looking at alternatives to budgeted areas where employees were reduced to less than full time - the library and Trailhead Golf Course.

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Library Board Chairman John Loucks presented an alternative budget for the library that would keep the current library director and circulation supervisor at full-time.

According to Loucks, the entire library staff agreed to take a 10 percent wage cut to prevent job loss, and operating hours were cut from the current 46 down to 40. In the mayor's plan, the two full-time library employees would be reduced to part-time effective Dec. 31, and the operating hours would be trimmed to 32.

As of press time, no meeting with the library board and city finance committee had been nailed down, but finance committee member Josh Beckett expressed intent to plan such a meeting.

Van Orman said city administrators were still crunching numbers presented in Loucks' budget, but the 10 percent wage cut for the entire library staff was not something she intended to entertain. She said the city couldn't legally decrease staff wages by any amount, no matter the willingness of the employees. She also said she didn't think it would be fair to the library staff.

"It's a moral issue," Van Orman said, explaining she feels uncomfortable letting the staff take the cut when other departments didn't have to.

Despite possible hitches in Loucks' plan, the alternative was generally well received at the Nov. 16 meeting, and Council members expressed appreciation for his efforts. The Council also asked to temporarily re-hire laid-off golf course employees to allow them to prepare a similar presentation.

By press time, Van Orman said she was still "playing phone-tag" with one of the two laid-off employees, and the other had declined.

If you go
The Liberty Lake City Council will discuss the budget at its meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 22710 E. Country Vista Drive.

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