Published: June 17, 2009 08:16 am      

Berea City Council votes for pay raise for city employees

City of Berea employees will be getting a 2.5 percent increase in pay beginning in July following Tuesday's adoption of the city’s 2009 – 2010 fiscal year budget at the Berea City Council meeting.

The budget ordinance, which also included a 50 percent decrease in capital outlay expenditures, passed by a vote of 5 to 3.

Prior to the vote to adopt the budget, council member Jerry Little generated a lively discussion by offering a motion to amend the budget by further decreasing expenditures by 5 percent except for the salary increase for employees. Council member Glenn Jennings pointed out that the finance committee already had gone through stringent budget cuts with all department heads.

Mayor Steve Connelly told the council that Little’s amendment would require a re-examination of the budget’s provisions, including capital and programs. The city must have a budget in place by July 1, he said. Without a budget in place, the city would have to operate on last year’s budget which was 50 percent higher in capital outlay, Connelly said.

The amendment failed by a vote of 5 to 3.

With the new budget in place, the City of Berea’s total revenues from city services and utility operations will be $35,102,929. When the 2008 – 2009 fiscal year ending fund balance is added, the total of available funds will be $51,491,991.

Expenditures for operating both the city and the utility service total $43,619,837 with a projected fund balance at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2010, projected to be $7,872,154.

In other action, an amended ordinance was adopted that increases rates charged by the municipal electric utility in order to offset increases in rates charged by its wholesale power provider. The ordinance, prior to the amendment, called for a service charge increase for class I residential customers from $9 per month to $14 and an energy charge increase from .0522 cents per kilowatt hour to .0534 cents.

A flurry of discussion by citizens and council generated amendments aimed at reducing the increase for Class I residential customers out of concern for citizens on fixed or low incomes. The amendment which passed by a vote of 6 to 2, offered by council member Virgil Burnside, provided for an increase in the service charge for residential from $9 per month to $12 and the charge per kilowatt hour to .0559 cents.

As one of the final actions of the meeting, council member Ronnie Terrill moved that the city rule out any plan to purchase the Parker Seal property. Following a tie vote, Connelly cast the tie- breaking vote to overturn the motion, leaving the city’s options open in regard to the property.

Connelly’s proposal to add Craig Still to the code enforcement board was unanimously approved by council. His recommendation of Brad Lewis to serve a second term on the tourism board also received unanimous approval.

Randy Stone, Berea city manager, announced that a meeting of the utility advisory board was set for next Tuesday, June 23, at 9 a.m. at the Berea Utility office.