BC looks to cinch its belt even tighter

By Cassie Tomlin

Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 | 6:42 p.m.

Two contracted city employees whose positions had been threatened by a dwindling budget will keep their jobs for at least the first half of the year while officials search for ways to save money elsewhere.

Code Enforcement Officer and Trail Manager at Bootleg Canyon are jobs that couldn't easily be shouldered by current city staff, the City Council decided at a special budget meeting Tuesday.

After an audit in November discovered a $1.8 million shortfall in the city budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30, City Manager Vicki Mayes recommended terminating the two contracts until July. Each earns $50,000 a year.

The audit showed that the city ended the last year with $3.2 million in its balance instead of $5 million, according to a memo from Finance Director Tim Inch.

The city plans to make cuts to eliminate a similar shortfall in this year's budget. In addition, the City Council in February will begin debating the fiscal 2010 budget, which begins in July.

Councilmen Mike Pacini and Travis Chandler suggested that cutting the contracts and spreading the duties among other city employees might not be cost effective, because code enforcement takes time to learn, and 40 miles of mountain bike trails don't maintain themselves.

"Mayor, I'm a blue-collar worker, and taking someone out of a job at the beginning of the year is a tough thing for me to do," Pacini said.

Larry Markotay has served as code enforcement officer for six years, and Brent Thompson is the trail master, a position created for him. The contracts are month to month.

In July, both contracts are expected to become a part-time positions to avoid future Public Employee Retirement System claims like the one filed late last year by a contracted employee, Mayes said.

The city was ordered to pay $70,000 in retirement to Mike Minshall, who canceled his contract as airport coordinator.

At the meeting, the council heard that in December, Mayes enacted $1.3 million in money-saving measures, including terminating or minimizing the hours of many part-time employees at the Municipal Golf Course and in the Parks and Recreation Department. Her main objective, she said, was to retain the city's 175 full-time employees.

Councilwoman Linda Strickland said she never would have agreed to axing part-time employees and would have instead reduced department heads' salaries and eliminated car allowances.

"Quite frankly, I think what I would have done if I was the city manager and all of this hit me, I think I would have looked at cutting from the top," she said. "It seems like the little guy suffers when there are problems and mistakes at the top."

Chandler and Strickland's pleas to reduce the public information officer's job to part time were not considered.

Roger Tobler said before eliminating or reducing that job, held by Rose Ann Miele, city department heads need to scour for cost-savings, but that lay-offs might be inevitable.

"I think we need to be fair with our employees, but I honestly believe that when we have to make these tough decisions, some of these are going to have to be cut," he said.

Several Bootleg Canyon regulars, mostly those who hold mountain bike events, spoke on Thompson's behalf, claiming that he raises a lot of money for the city by attracting events to rent the mountain trails.

Pacini noted that Markotay's citations also draw revenue.

Cassie Tomlin can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].