Aragon realigns FY 2017 budget
Numbers were moved around in the FY 2017 budget to cover changing costs for several items and for the 2014 Special Purpose, Local Option Sales Tax fund for public works to get new equipment in several votes during the January meeting.
Budget re- alignments were approved to cover a variety of expected costs before the end of the year as funds were added and subtracted here and there in a long list of transfers handled by Mayor Garry Baldwin.
Among those costs were from elections since unexpected needs were face during the opening months of FY 2017 with the death of two mayors and the opening of council seats, and additional coming costs for the March 21 vote.
The council also approved the budget changes which included increases to training funds for new council members and Baldwin mandated by the state. Overages in areas like Public Safety and Public Works for a variety of reasons from repair costs on equipment running over budget to patrol car repairs coming in more than was set aside in the line item.
All told the amended numbers still come in $10,000 less than the projected budget, even with some increases.
However changes will likely be needed again aft er another decision made before the meeting was over to seek a new finance director for the city after a executive session for a personnel discussion was held during the Jan. 19 meeting.
Baldwin said in an interview following the meeting last week that though the city will indeed have to re-align the budget, it will likely depend more on when they decide to make the hire, which will determine salary requirements through the end of the FY 2017 budget.
One thing the city could do i mmediately t hat didn’t require a change to the annual budget.
Instead what was set aside in the 2014 SPLOST for spending by the Public Works department on new equipment.
Aragon Public Works Director Daniel Johnson spoke to the council at length about plans to bring in new equipment to make the job of his employees easier.
He will still keep within budget on what was allocated in the penny sales t ax resolution passed three years ago.
Originally the department had sought to get a new chipper and dump truck out of the SPLOST, but that plan has changed as Johnson has seen a need to use the money in a different way.
A mower and associated parts bought previously from Haney Feed and Seed will be traded in and $ 13,600 of SPLOST money spent to purchase a new tractor, along with $26,409.50 for a new leaf vacuum machine to keep streets and gutters clear, and $ 37,204 for a new chipper to replace one Johnson said is in dire need of replacement.
His contention was the equipment on the SPLOST list developed a few years ago could be shifted away from the proposed purchase of a dump truck and the money used more efficiently with his purchases, especially since after tracking time usage with what Aragon had purchased in the past for workers to use versus what they are going to move ahead with buying.
Johnson also took into consideration that the dump truck currently on hand can continue to operate for years to come with proper maintenace and care, and with that decision came the council’s approval to go ahead and re- assign SPLOST funds for the new equipment.
Though Johnson said he anticipates no problems with equipment in the near future, he did say that should any big breakdowns happen and the city needed to buy equipment with SPLOST in a hurry there would still be money leftover after the council agreed to spend more than $75,000 of it.
Along with the big equipment purchases, Johnson’s department will also get a new welding machine capable of being used for differing requirements out on the streets and back in the shop.
Johnson got approval to purchase a new welder and needed supplies to go along with i t f or $1,681.81 in a low bid provided by Holston Gas of Rome.
He said with the new machine as part of the city’s toolbox, needed fixes on sewer grates could be completed soon and once those were out of the way any damaged could be caught up on sooner.
Johnson said he’d be doing the work himself since he is a certified welder with the state, “also saving money by not having to contract the job out to someone else.”
Money was also spent for a new heating and air system at the historical society building for a $6,000 bid, which will allow for the building to be fully closed in and secured once installed.
In one last move for the month involving the budget, the city council also approved a raise from $11.15 an hour to $13 an hour for part time police officers.