Emporia City Commissioners continued refining the 2022 budget during their recent study session Wednesday morning.
The budget review, presented by City Treasurer Janet Harouff, sparked various discussions especially when it came to certain inclusions in the general fund. In the original presentation, Harouff presented a general fund that included a 12 percent increase to the city’s wage scales as well as a two percent annual pay increase for all staff and a 2.5 percent annual merit increase based on evaluations.
Mayor Rob Gilligan asked the items be removed from the city’s five-year budget, not because he feels the increases aren’t warranted, but rather because city revenues at this time could not sustain the proposed increase over that time period.
Gilligan also requested the mill levy projection be lowered from $186,000 to $184,000 due to properties that are still going through the tax abatement process at this time. Gilligan stated he would prefer to “err on the side of caution” with the possibility that valuations could be decreased once the tax abatement process concludes.
Harouff agrees with this thought saying this budget cycle requires more caution than ever before due to changes in policy by the state legislature which saw the budgeting process change focus from mill levies to dollars.
In other business, commissioners considered a request from the Emporia Land Bank of $50,000 for the purchase of vacant properties to be used for the development of new houses within the city. Harouff has suggested pulling the $50,000 out of the multi-year fund and placing it into the Land Bank fund for that purpose.
The land bank was established back in 2019 and has since acquired four properties, three of which have either been sold or donated over the past two years.
Further discussions on the budget will continue during the commission’s Aug. 11 study session.
The Emporia City Commission will reconvene for an action session next Wednesday at 1:30 pm inside the Municipal Courtroom at White Auditorium.
