Business
(2009-07-28)
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COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
Jefferson City city employees may be getting a pay increase. Mayor John Landwehr proposed a 2% cost-of-living and a 1% percent merit-based increase in the city's 2010 budget. Landwehr says every city cannot be expected to have the same financial situations. But...even cities as close to the Capital as Columbia are proposing different budgets. KBIA's Courtney Flatt has more.
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Jefferson City mayor John Landwehr says the cost-of-living and merit-based pay increases proposed for city employees are in line with previous years, if not a slightly smaller amount.
"My view is that, that pretty much keeps them up with inflation. So it's really not so much a raise as it is a way to keep them, to let them maintain the status quo with their present salaries."
Landwehr says Jefferson City's conservative spending, including a small debt and sustainable bond commitments, help the city afford the increases.
"Our economic situation is not the same as the federal government's. It's not the same as the state of Missouri's, and it's not the same as a lot of cities. We're not, we're looking carefully at our budget."
And Jefferson City's proposed budget is not the same, even, as Columbia's. The City of Columbia is not providing any merit-based pay increases in its 2010 budget. City Manager Bill Watkins says salaries will remain the same.
"Frankly we've asked for a million dollars back from our employees and we're still discussing exactly how we get there but for the most part I think there has been acceptance of the need."
Columbia's cuts will apply to all city government employees. That means everyone from the city manager's office all the way down. But Watkins says these cuts are not unique to Columbia. And in fact, he says, Columbia is doing better than most other cities.
"The local economy here while its worse than what I've seen in the 20 years I've been here, when I talk to my counterparts in other parts of the country, we're doing ok, we're doing ok."
Even with possible pay increases Jefferson City is not without worries. Landwehr says the city gets most of its revenue from property tax, sales tax and other fees. Although sales tax makes up 25 percent of the city's budget, Landwehr says its fluctuation is unpredictable. This year the proposed budget factors in a zero percent sales tax increase, which Landwehr says he has not seen in his 15 years of city government. But he says...
"Even a significant fluctuation in sales tax, as it ripples into the city budget, is not catastrophic."
If worse comes to worse, Landwehr says the city may hold off on spending. Along the lines of cutting back, the city will not fill employee vacancies as fast as normal. While the Jefferson City Council has not approved anything yet, Landwehr says he believes they will sign off on a budget very similar to his proposal.
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