Huntington city council met Saturday morning in a special work session of the city council to discuss the shortfall in city revenue forecasts for the 2002-2003 budget. Mayor David Felinton was absent from the meeting and was not represented by staff. Council members Mary Neely, Larry Patterson and Trey Hanshaw were also absent.
Council started the meeting by going into executive session to discuss hiring private legal council to advise them on personnel matters. Councilman Jim Insco voted against going into executive session.
Council will be reducing several line items in the new budget to bring it into balance. Council chairman Cal Kent said that as many as 25 more city employees could be cut from the payroll.
“We still have a serious budget deficit even with the service fee,” said Kent. He was referring to the recently enacted $1 per week service fee council imposed on people working within the city limits.
The B&O shortfall is expected to be about $1.325 million. The shortfall in property taxes is estimated to be $432,000 and parking revenues will be about $70,000 short. Utility taxes are expected to be about $86,000 dollars less than expected.
The new service is projected to bring in about $900,000 in revenue, but there is still a chance of future court action concerning this fee. “The service fee may be challenged at another level,” said Insco.
If the service remains on the books, the city still faces about a $1 million budget deficit. Part of the reason for the B&O forecast being short is the city was counting on several major projects already being under construction. Two of those projects, the parking garages at Pullman Square and the BioTech center at Marshall University have yet to break ground.
“If these projects don’t start soon, we’ll have to cut the budget even more,” said Insco.
Council will hold a special call meeting Monday at 6 p.m. The following items will be on the agenda for discussion:
Where the city stands on the jobs that were eliminated in the budget, and an update on the sanitation department.
A resolution to reduce the estimates in incoming revenues of the current budget.
Discussion of $57,000 that allegedly came from the Police Department to city hall and is unaccounted for. Councilman Charlie Thompson told the council he has received two calls from well placed sources about the accusation.
Can the city provide insurance coverage at cheaper rates without compromising employee benefits?
Collection of delinquent B&O taxes.
Whether or not the hiring of a person to collect delinquent B&O taxes is paying off.
Why the city is using two phone systems, and the matter of who is paying for cell phones for city employees.
Discussion on privatizing the city garbage collection.