Monday night Jasper held their monthly council meeting. At the meeting, a salary increase was given finalization after initial approval in December, contingent upon the return of health insurance quotes and how it would affect the 2014 budget.The council voted unanimously for the raises across the board after hearing they’d budgeted a ten percent increase over insurance costs last year but the quote that was accepted turned out to be only a seven percent increase. MSI insurance assured the board they had the best coverage with the most flexible, beneficial plans at a lower cost. Matt Tidwell made the presentation to the board.

Previously the city was paying $608,000 per year. This year it increased to $651,912. Tidwell explained, “The bulk of your increase this year is taxes.”

Near the end of the meeting, the salary question was raised and quickly passed. Those raises will be a three percent raise for all city employees.

For more specifics on the insurance presentation, please see the following video:

December 6, 2013:

After a roll-call count of zero for the public hearing regarding Jasper’s 2014 budget last week, this week’s attendance for a special called meeting where the budget was unanimously approved shouldn’t be a surprise. Again, the audience for the city council consisted of media representatives.

The $3.8 million budget did come with questions from FYN that were put to rest after a meeting with Mayor John Weaver and Chief Financial Officer Lisa Hoyle.

Hoyle explained she and the finance committee used “budget to actual” figures. In other words, they used the actual individual budget expenditures accumulated over this year to set the budgets for next year. As economic trends would predict, some areas rose while others dipped and each budget was adjusted using that measure. The same tact was used at the meeting held Monday night in amending the 2013 budget. Please see 2013BudgetAmendmentTotals.pdf

The leachate revenue increase (2013: $45,000 to 2014: $250,000) is due to more being brought in from local landfills as well as the agreement the city has with Eagle Point Landfill in Ball Ground.

However, Weaver does still anticipate a rise in fees for residential customers as they’ve experienced a loss in revenue from the stoppage of transfer truck traffic eliminating sewer waste. Hoyle reported the fees haven’t been raised in more than five years but that increase could be seen as soon as the first quarter of 2014.

FYN questioned the rise of hotel/motel revenue payments to other agencies being raised almost $24k.

“Those funds will be given to the Office of Economic Development and the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce to enhance tourism in Jasper,”

Weaver explained.

The uncertainty of city employee raises is still hanging over their heads. Weaver mirrored Councilman Jim Looney’s statement of December 6th that until the cost of healthcare is determined the actual disbursement of those raises is in question. He stated they will meet with the city’s insurance broker after the first of the year to see what the cost adjustments will be.

December 10, 2013:

A public hearing was held at Jasper City Hall last evening. The meeting was brought to order by Mayor John Weaver at 6 o’clock as advertised.

The mayor and the council eagerly awaited public questions regarding the proposed 2014 city budget. Instead of questions, they heard crickets. No citizens were in attendance. After acknowledging the press were the only parties in attendance, the meeting was adjourned approximately five minutes after it began.

The adoption of the proposed budget will take place at the next meeting, Monday, December 16 at 6, at City Hall.

December 6, 2013:

The city of Jasper has proposed a 2014 budget that includes a three percent salary increase for city employees. But it also includes an “assumed” increase in healthcare costs and marked decreases in several areas.

The budget for 2013 was pretty much in-line with the proposed budget as overall the budget only increased $3800, for a total budget of $3,886,468. But proposed figures can’t accurately forecast what the increase in health care costs will be, a common concern across the country in all budgets for the coming year.

“I’m not sure what my comfort level is with the amount of assumed cost versus what’s really going to happen. We won’t know that for a few months,”

Finance Committee and Council member Jim Looney said.

“I would suggest that while the budget and salary increases are there that we maybe hold off on giving salary increases until we get a better idea of the cost of health insurance.”

He anticipates a more solid figure within 2-3 months but can’t be sure. Further discussion on what action to take on the salary increases should be held at the next two meetings, before the council vote.

Questions about several wide variances in comparison to last year’s budget went unanswered as messages to Mayor John Weaver, Chief Financial Officer Lisa Hoyle and Looney weren’t returned. Although the budget “presentation” was on the agenda, other than a couple of generalities there wasn’t a presentation of any figures during the meeting.

A couple of areas FYN had questions regarding were:

There was an increase from $300 to $1700 for printing costs. What service would require that much printing for the city?

The hotel/motel tax revenue payments to other agencies rose from $10,000 to $33,950. What other agencies and for what purpose?

The revenue from leachate dump fees rose from $45,000 to $250,000. Was there a contract with another city/entity enacted that made a significant revenue jump or is that something Jasper residents will be paying to the city? FYN reported in June that Weaver stated eliminating transfer truck traffic to the city’s waste water facility would cost the city around $200,000 in revenue and may cause increased fees for residents. Is that the result of his prediction becoming a reality?

The citizens of Jasper will have a chance to ask questions themselves at a public hearing on the city’s budget Monday, December 9 at 6 p.m. at city hall. A copy of the budget is available here:

Proposed 2014 Budget

A called meeting on December 16, 2013 at City Hall at 6:00 p.m. will be held for the official adoption of the budget.

The budget presentation video may be viewed here: