Budget discussions underway - merit raises discussed

City Manager Rick Howell unveiled the 2007-08 fiscal year budget today during the first of several budget workshops with council members at the Utility Operations Center on Grover Street.

"This is very preliminary. I’ve been through the department requests," said Howell. "I had to scrutinize each item."

Last year, the city cut 16 positions from the general fund budget while maintaining the property tax rate.

The budget must be adopted by June 30. The fiscal year budget begins July 1.

When planning the budget, Howell said he focused around the goals of the city’s Strategic Growth Plan and council’s 2007-08 fiscal year priorities developed by the council several months ago during their retreat at First National Bank.

"There hasn’t been coli’s (cost of living increase) for the best two years," said Howell.

Employees will be eligble for a 3.5 percent. The proposed budget has $336,000 allocated for those employees that perform at a high level. The city is working on an evualtion process that should be rolled out within four months.

"Ultimately that will be a fair way to go about retaining highly qualified employees and rewarding them for performance," said Howell.