In May, City Council members unanimously voted to buy police units, adding $101,250 to a $184,165 deficit. Also, they voted to amend the city’s decision to give employees a 2 percent raise, rather than the proposed 1 percent raise, bringing the city $84,030 further into the red.
The amended budget following the council’s decision leaves the city with a deficit of $369,445 in its general fund.
City Finance Director Kevin Alley said the original budget presented to the council included a 2 percent longevity raise, which will be awarded to employees on their anniversary day, plus a 1 percent raise on their base pay, excluding longevity and state supplemental pay.
Councilman Mike Koonce suggested to the council that the city worker raise on base pay be doubled because “they deserve a little something extra,” and the council unanimously agreed.
The move also leaves the city’s public utility fund with an operating loss of $771,817 after adding $14,898 to the original proposed budget for employee raises.
The budget originally presented to the council had a projected deficit of $756,919 in the public utility fund for the 2014 fiscal year.
Councilman Stuart Moss made the move to have the city supply the Police Department with four Tahoes, which Police Chief Lewis Coats said were necessary for supervisors in the department and were “within a couple hundred dollars difference … and maybe $400 cheaper” than the Chevrolet Caprices the department now has.
Mayor Chris Duncan said the general fund originally had $33,750 budgeted for a Tahoe, but the council’s decision to buy four Tahoes increased the total for the units to $135,000 — adding $101,250 to the $184,165 deficit.
Moss said during May’s council meeting that he wanted to have the budget amended so that the city is supplying the Police Department with necessities rather than the department’s buying the units with its drug seizure fund. Sulphur Mayor Chris Duncan. (American Press Archives)
