City preparing for 2010-2011 fiscal budget

As the new fiscal year approaches, Weirton city officials are preparing the 2010-2011 budget.

Weirton City Council met in a workshop meeting on Friday where projected budget numbers show a potential reduction from a $14,306,798 budget for the current fiscal year to a proposed $13,526,424, although officials say final figures have yet to be taken into account.

According to officials, council will also be facing a rise in fixed costs. Finance Director Tom Maher Jr. informed council that on Jan. 13, the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board voted to increase the employer contribution to the state Public Employees Retirement System for fiscal 2011. Beginning July 1, employers of those workers will see their contributions increase from 11 percent to 17 percent of total payroll, an additional $120,000 for the City of Weirton.

"That's a substantial increase," said Maher.

With capital improvement line items in the amount of $134,000 still yet to be figured into the $13.5 million dollar budget, previous cuts made to reduce the budget last year will remain, such as no additional staff members and no raises for city employees.

Ward 4 Councilman George Ash asked Police Chief Bruce Marshall how many officers were currently staffed to which he replied there are 36. Marshall said he has one officer approaching retirement and one who left for a higher paying position with another company.

"Is that enough people for you or do you need 40 (officers)?" Ash asked.

Weirton City Council reduced the budgeted amount of officers from 40 to 38 for the current fiscal year. Ward 7 Councilman Max Fijewski asked if there was a standard based on population.

"The FBI standard for a city with a population of 22,000 is 52 officers," said Marshall. "In a city of 19,000, I would say a reasonable amount of officers would be in the high 40s."

Maher said the Weirton Transit Corp. requested 5$2,000 that would stand in as matching funds for grants. The Mary H. Weir Public Library requested additional funds in the amount of $43,270 to help cover the cost of the retirement increase and to hire a full time technology person.

"Have you and your board considered a part-time position," Fijewski asked library officials in attendance.

Library Director Rik Rekowski replied that it would be ideal to have a full-time person.

Fijewski interjected on behalf of the Park Board, of which he is a member, to relay that the board is not requesting any additional funding. He said the Park Board decided to come up with other avenues of supporting the projected $20,000 increase.

City Manager Gary DuFour stated the revenue coming in from the Limited Video Lottery and table gaming is slightly up, but Maher reduced projections in order to avoid a "drastic impact that would cause a shortfall."

With other costs going up, such as a landfill contract that is set to expire in the late summer, DuFour said a sanitation rate may have to be considered as well.

Maher also projects a decrease in the Municipal Service Fee, used to pave city roads. He said some funds will be taken from that account to help offset the cost of the street lights required by the state in conjunction with the Super Wal-Mart project located in the Three Springs Business Park.

City council is set to meet for another budget work session on Tuesday to further discuss the budget after reviewing the information presented to them on Friday.

(Dickson can be contacted at adickson@weirtondailytimes.com)