Budget woes dominate discussion at Florence council
The new Florence mayor and city council wrestled Monday afternoon with probable budget shortfalls pitted against the needs of the community. A group of about 25 citizens was in attendance to observe the meeting.
Following the swearing-in of new second ward councilman Rick Turner, the council turned its attention to the question of hiring a chief of police and staffing the department.
Ken Hoffman of the Florence Police Department reported on research he had done on the Leon (Kansas) police department.
"They have a population of 760 with fewer businesses than Florence has," Hoffman said. "They do have Blue Stem High School, so they have some different problems than we have and their peak activity times are related to school events."
"They have a chief, four part-time officers, six reserves, two vehicles, and are in the process of getting a drug dog," he continued. "Their budget is similar to ours — $50,000 a year. They can staff their department on that budget because everyone, including the chief, is a part-time employee."
Hoffman said the biggest advantage of part-time staff is not having to provide benefits like health insurance. He said the officers all have other jobs to provide their "bread and butter" and they do the part-time work because they want to and they enjoy doing it. He said members of the Leon department suffer less burn-out.
Hoffman told the council that the town of Leon gets many of its reserve officers from the Butler County Sheriff's Department and the city of El Dorado. He had not checked the communities around Florence for potential reserve officers.
Hoffman said that since the recent resignation of Creighton Smith, the Marion County Sheriff's Department has been good about helping out in Florence. "But I hate to ride a good horse to death," he said. "Florence needs to get an active police department up and running. I think this is an option that would work and I think we ought to look at it."
The council agreed to have Hoffman invite Leon Police Chief Johnny Jones to address the council at the next meeting. A decision to seek a police chief for Florence was tabled until the council has more information about the part-time staffing.
On a related topic, the council heard from Hoffman that the police department needs to spend about $150 to change the locks on the doors to the police office and have them all keyed the same. Hoffman told the council that state law requires records and evidence be held in a secure locked area. After considerable discussion, the council approved the expenditure.
Hoffman also requested a separate fax machine for the department to maintain confidentiality, especially of juvenile reports. He was authorized to spend up to $250 for a new fax machine provided it could run on the Internet line to the department.
He also noted that the department's 1994 Crown Victoria is "limping along." The brakes recently have been replaced and a new battery purchased, but he said it would not be long until the city would have to look at replacing it. "This is just an FYI," he said.
The council tackled the issue of the gas franchise tax available through Atmos Energy. The tax would be applied to the gas bill of every Atmos customer in Florence if the council approves it. The council has sole discretion in setting the tax up to 5% of each gas bill. The city of Florence would receive all the revenue from the tax. Atmos Energy acts as custodian of the funds, but does not receive any of the money.
Mayor John Lehman told the council they needed to address the issue one way or the other. He suggested a community meeting should be held to give council members a feeling of the community's wishes, but that they would make the decision on implementing the tax.
"With the number of things we have before us, the decrease in the budget, and the number of things we need to pay off, we are going to have to do something," he said. "There is no word yet on how much the shortfall will be, but (city clerk) Ann (Brenzikofer) said it could be as much as $30,000 or $40,000 next year."
Councilman Larry Timm said he had not changed his mind. "I'm still not for it," he said. Councilman Tim Parmley agreed.
Lehman asked if either had looked at the budget for other areas to cut since they are against the franchise tax.
"No," said Timm, "but you are talking about bringing in what — $9,000? That won't make up for the shortage from the state."
Turner agreed he would like to hear from the public before voting on the franchise proposal. "I think we're going to have to do something," he admitted, "and the money would all stay here. But I want to know what the community thinks."
The council agreed to host a public meeting on the matter at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the city building.
In other business:
— The council heard a report from Trayce Warner on the Spring Fling. Warner also updated the council on the status of the downtown sound system. The Labor Day committee is working on a way to install the new system that will be approved by Westar Energy.
— agreed to invite a representative from SBC to attend the next meeting and review the company's franchise fee which will expire June 30.
— heard from Stuart Funk that the city will fill the sink holes that affect the city springs as soon as the ground dries.
— heard that the city had obtained a legal opinion verifying that Tim Parmley, who was elected fire chief last week, cannot serve as a councilman and fire chief simultaneously. Parmley already had relinquished the job of fire chief.
— approved a burn permit for Dale Coe, pending permission from the fire chief.
— approved warrants in the amount of $32,346.41.
— heard a request from city employee Rick Burcky that citizens put their trash at the curb for pickup, and not to expect him to pick it up from their porch or garage.
