Alexander City City Council approves 15% employee raise with new budget | National News | #citycouncil


Confidence is increasing in the Alexander City Municipal Complex.

Mayor Woody Baird said anticipated revenue growth for Alexander City’s general fund and growth in the area allowed city leaders and the Alexander City City Council to enact a 15 percent raise for city employees. It’s a move Baird thinks will help keep employees from leaving and has increased morale among city employees.

“It went through the roof,” Barid said. “When we first talked about it publicly, there were more than 100 city employees at the council meeting. When they voted on it earlier this week, there were about 75 to 80.”

Baird said in his two years as mayor he has seen city employees leaving, but not necessarily because of what was happening in city hall.

“The employees were complaining about low wages and we were looking at ways to help,” Baird said. “They were going to Sylacauga and Opelika. Our guys were 30 percent below the other guys. We were losing people to the county and to private industry.”

The pay increase comes just as inflation is taking more of everyone’s paychecks and the standard increase in medical insurance.

“We brought them up to a level that hopefully we won’t be losing people,” Baird said. “Especially in the police and fire departments. Now we are back to a point where we can be competitive and recruit — potentially recruit others from other departments.”

Baird said city leaders are being “hammered by some citizens about going up on sewer rates and then giving a raise.” However, Baird said the sewer rate increase is not funding the pay increase.

“The thing is, sewer is still underfunded,” Barid said. “We are funded at 80 percent. We are still losing 20 cents for every dollar it costs us for sewage.”

The revenue in utilities such as sewer is supposed to stay in sewer to help maintain infrastructure. Baird said it had been customary for the city to transfer funds from the city’s utilities to support general fund efforts such as public works and public safety. Now the city is starting to capture revenue that had been left “uncaptured.”

Earlier this year the city reorganized how the city administers business licenses and taxes. Rather than just increase fees, the city started collecting what was due to the city. The same has gone on in accounting where some billing left revenue uncaptured.

“We are so far behind collecting on rent for hangars [at the airport],” Baird said. “Everytime we sell a plot at the city cemetery or open and close a grave, whoever the officiating company of the funeral is supposed to pay us for an open and closing. We had $12,000 sitting out there that hadn’t been collected.”

There is also unbilled revenue at the Sugar Creek Wastewater Treatment Facility when septic tank companies would bring their byproduct to be treated. An employee was added to accounting to keep the billing up to date.

“It has been sitting there all these years,” Baird said. “We have been bleeding and losing it. Now we are starting to collect it. That is part of the additional revenue.”

Baird said other revenue increases are projected to come from the development of Alabama Graphite, Wicker Point and retail along U.S. Highway 280 at Sonic, The Wharf and across from Walmart. 

Just because Baird and other city leaders see growth does not mean they are counting their eggs before they hatch. City finance director Romy Stamps has provided Baird and the council with more information to make better decisions.

“[Stamps] gives us so much more information to work with,” Baird said. “She was very conservative in the estimates and we believe the revenue will be even better.”

The city approved a balanced budget last year on time and while the city had to borrow money from the utilities fund to help to begin the year with, it quickly repaid utilities and got in the black. Baird said things continue to improve and the 2023 budget is much like the previous one with the exception of the pay increase costing the city an estimated $1.6 million per year.

“The revenue, especially in the general fund, we have turned that corner and we have a positive balance in the general fund,” Baird said. “We have maintained that positive balance for two quarters now. Coming from where we were to where we are is huge.”

 

Cliff Williams is a staff writer for Tallapoosa Publishers.




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