On Monday, Bloomfield City Council held the first reading of the fiscal year 2024 budget at a special called meeting on June 12. The council also approved in a 4-1 vote raising the pay scale for city and water company employees to allow for more competitive pay.
During the first reading, the City of Bloomfield’s budget came to a total of more than $334,000. However, the water company’s 2024 budget amounted to a total of nearly $1.5 million. The city’s budget is made up of five separate accounts (revenue, park, public improvement, street and road and Christmas Parade), while Bloomfield Water and Sewer has only one for operating expenses.
The city’s largest portion of its 2024 was the revenue account or general fund, which was budgeted to $265,000. More than $100,000 of the budget is allocated to police ($70,000) and administrative cost ($65,000), which includes contributions from the county.
Other big ticket items for the city include $12,000 for utilities, $25,000 for street lights and $15,000 for liability insurance. The general fund also has more than $16,000 in contingency fund and $9,000 for the police department’s budget for expenses (gas, uniforms and trainings).
The city’s public improvement account has more than $31,000 allocated in next year’s budget. This fund has $26,200 in contingency with $5,000 for all public improvement expenses. Mayor Chris Dudgeon said the city hardly ever uses this fund, however, if they did want to make improvements on City Hall they would need approval from the Historical Review Board.
The street and road fund has $18,000 budgeted, with funds coming from the municipal road aid. Another $10,000 has been allocated to paving in the account, with permits being $3,000 and contingency holding $5,000.
The park and Christmas parade accounts both have around $10,000 in the city’s budget. Bloomfield received $10,000 allocated from the county for Bloomfield Memorial Park. Dudgeon said in previous years the funds have been used for operating costs of the park for such expenses as utilities, concession supplies and general maintenance.
The Christmas parade fund is comprised of donations from individuals and businesses sponsoring the event and fees gathered from pageant registration. None of the funds are used by the city, with the parade’s own board having access to the account.
Bloomfield Water and Sewer has the larger budget for the year with $1,494,000, with $450,000 allocated toward water purchasing. Another top item on the budget is the $300,000 for salaries and wages for Bloomfield Water and Sewer employees, with $120,000 budgeted for employee benefits, $110,000 for sewer and $125,000 for operating expenses.
The water and sewer company also allocated $31,200 for rent into the budget, which they pay to the city to rent the building. This money goes directly into the city’s public improvement account and not the operating expenses account.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, the council approved, 4-1, increasing the pay scale for city employees. Dudgeon said the reason for this increase is due to the competitive nature of the job market and wanting to offer better pay to the individuals in these roles.
The most significant change to the pay scale is starting Grade One employees (Public Works Superintendent, Police Chief and City Clerk) in a beginning (minimum)scale of $20-$25 as opposed to the $15-17 in the original scale. This change also affected the maximum pay scale, which increased by $2 to bring it $20-$34 from it’s original maximum of $32. City employees can move to the maximum pay scale after six months, but Dudgeon said this does not mean that will immediately jump to the highest part of the scale.
“With everything that’s happened, I did not want to hire these people in at these rates or what I would have given them,” Dudgeon said. “I didn’t want anyone saying, ‘You’re overpaying.’ So now that I know I’m going to do that. If we can get them, then I can get these guys the pay they need.”
The beginning and maximum pay scale also increased for Grade Two (administrative assistants) Grade Three (billing and maintenance technicians) and Grade Four (part-time) employees. Grade Two employees will now make $17-$20 in the beginning and can jump up to $30 in the maximum pay scale. Grade Three employees will see a pay range of $14-$17 in the first six months and after can see an increase up to $26. For Grade Four, their beginning pay scale starts at $12-$14 but can increase into $20 in the maximum pay scale.
Councilmember Scott Stevenson was the only member of the council to vote against this pay scale. Stevenson said he was uncertain about giving his approval to the updated pay scale because of the $300,000 allocated to the Bloomfield Water and Sewer employees salary/wages in the 2024 Fiscal Year budget.
“You got $300,000 for salaries and wages and $120,000 for employee benefits, that’s your insurance,” Stevenson said. “Now you’re wanting to increase the hourly. I can’t go along with that.”
Dudgeon explained that regardless of what was allocated in the budget, they have always been under budget in salary and wages for the water company in previous years. Councilmember John Hammond estimated it was unlikely to reach that $300,000 budgeted even if all employees were at the highest end of their pay scale.
The next Bloomfield City Council meeting will be held on Monday, June 19, at 6:30 p.m., where the city will hold a second reading of the 2024 budgets for the city and water company.
