CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES BUDGET DURING RETREAT

Cape Girardeau won't add any new employee positions next year but the city will continue to make its salary package competitive and offer incentives for long-term employees.

The budget, as presented to the Cape Girardeau City Council during an all-day retreat Friday, wouldn't support any new full-time personnel, said Finance Director John Richbourg.

The budget isn't exactly where Richbourg would like it to be. "We are covering our expenses but we could be doing better," he said. He would like an additional $500,000 in funding to meet various capital improvement needs and personnel.

Hearing that no new positions would be funded, Councilman Tom Neumeyer said, "It sounds like we've been doing more work with less people."

Fire Chief Dan White agreed. His department has been working with 59 employees for nearly 10 years. While 55 percent of the department's calls are for emergency medical situations, no new employees have been added to staff those calls, he said.

White has requested additional firefighters for at least three years now, he said.

Even though new positions weren't included in the budget proposal, it doesn't mean they weren't requested. Some of the requests:

* GIS technician in the planning division to help develop maps of the city using special software programs.

* A patrol officer for the Police Department. The position would have been 75 percent grant-funded.

* Three new firefighters and emergency medical personnel.

* Three Public Works employees added to street crews.

* A stormwater coordinator in the Public Works department.

"It's frustrating because the revenues and sales tax have been growing, as employees hear," City Manager Michael Miller said. "But we've done more to try and bring salaries up and what suffers is the equipment they work with."

Personnel funding is the largest portion of the city's budget, and the city continues to offer 3 percent cost-of-living increases, as well as increasing the pay to employees who move up a step on the scale.

Employees who are at the top of their pay scale are eligible for a 2.65 percent pay increase. There are at least 150 employees working for the city who are now at the top of their pay-rate scale.

While some might say that private companies offer more pay increases, the city does try to stay competitive with its peers in Missouri. Each year, the city looks at the salary packages of St. Joseph, Sedalia, Joplin and Jefferson City in working to develop its plan.

The average city employee will see a salary increase between 3 percent and 6 percent in the coming budget year, said Miller.

Part-time wages also will increase in the 2000-2001 budget because there had been "an inability to work out part-time hours" for the work needing to be done, Richbourg said.

Three traffic control tower operators at the airport will move from part-time to full-time employees, Richbourg said.

City department heads began meeting two months ago to discuss their individual budget needs. Each department head outlined needs and the group worked to consensus on budget expenses.

That proposed budget was presented to the council at its annual retreat, held at Black Forest Village. Twenty-one people, including staff and all council members, attended.

The council must vote on the budget before July 1, which is the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Where the city's budget revenue comes from

General fund

This includes the general operating fund, airport fund, parks and recreation fund and softball complex.

Enterprise fund

This includes sewer, water and solid waste funds. All these divisions are able to charge fees based on their services offered.

General fund revenue Proportion of budget

* Sales tax 48 percent

* Union Electric franchise tax 13.25 percent

* Municipal court fees 6.28 percent

* Real estate tax 5.6 percent

* Merchant licenses 5.5 percent

* Personal property tax 1.6 percent

Source: Cape Girardeau finance department