Independence to decide on city budget Monday

As far as Independence Mayor Don Reimal is concerned, the cost-savings idea of switching off half of the city’s street lights for one year is gone from the drawing board.

The idea was one that the police and fire department unions had discussed as a means to save $750,000 in the fiscal year that begins July 1. However, several City Council members said they received negative feedback from their constituents on the idea. Reimal said citizens told him repeatedly, “That’s just not an option.”

“We decided that was not a viable solution because it would invite vandalism, house break-ins and everything else that happens when there is not enough light,” Reimal said. “You have to go through a lot of rejectable ideas before you come up with one that is good.”

In a year that’s been marked by financial difficulties mostly because of declining sales tax revenues, the council has faced reductions in city positions, fewer resources to tackle public safety and covering a private developer’s shortfall in making bond payments on The Falls at Crackerneck Creek.

The council will vote on the budget Monday night. Council members had their own take on the budget when reached individually for comment this week. District 3 Council Member Myron Paris could not be reached for comment as of press time. District 2 Council Member Will Swoffer was unavailable for comment.

In his 17 years on the council, Reimal called this the toughest budget with which he’s been involved.

“We try to balance the budget without laying people off, and we didn’t accomplish that. That’s one thing I don’t like to do,” he said. “The economy has not cooperated, as everybody knows. Every community in the nation is undergoing the same thing.”

PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES
Several council members had expressed concern over the reduction of hours at the overnight information desk inside the Police Department’s Central Headquarters. Mary Anne Metheny, chief executive officer of Hope House, told the council in May that domestic violence victims often seek help through the overnight information desk and such proposed cuts could negatively affect these victims.

At-Large Council Member Lucy Young said several council members considered the information desk issue their No. 1 priority this budget year.

City staff have worked for a compromise. The information desk will be without civilian employees from 2 to 6 a.m. only, seven days a week. The foyer just before the building’s lobby will be modified with motion-sensitive security cameras and a telephone. Citizens entering this area would be able to reach dispatch by phone, and based on the nature of the concern, they would be allowed access into the lobby, City Manager Robert Heacock told the council on June 6.

The door behind them would then lock and would be secured. Additional police assistance could be provided from within the building or by calling an officer who is in the field, Heacock said.

“When I was on the Police Department, we used to rotate desk assignments. Until we got a complete civilian crew up there, we used to work the desk ourselves,” said District 4 Council Member Jim Page, a retired 30-year veteran of the Independence Police Department. “In certain instances, you’re going to have to call an officer in out of the field anyway, even if the desk was manned for 24 hours.”

These changes will cost about $18,500, Heacock said, and the funds will come from the council goals account from leftover funds toward the demolition of dangerous buildings.

“People are not totally without assistance,” Reimal said. “They can be taken in and will be safe. We’re not trying to put anybody in harm’s way. This was a solution that was talked about and was decided, under the circumstances, was the best way to take care of the situation.”

About a month ago, Young’s dog went missing, and as she walked the streets trying to find him, she visited with multiple constituents, asking for their opinions on different facets of this year’s proposed budget.

“Everyone was opposed to turning off the street lights,” she said of the proposed idea. “I hope that people will understand that we’re not trying to reduce patrol on the street. We’re trying to direct all of the money to keeping patrolmen on the street where the crime occurs.”

It’s been nearly two years since Independence voters overwhelmingly rejected a new sales tax that would have funded additional police services. A year ago, a task force examined the city’s level of police and fire services and made a recommendation to the City Council. Reimal said several community members are talking about putting forth a sales tax proposal once again. Blue Springs voters approved a police sales tax in April for personnel, facilities and equipment.

“I think that if it is brought forward again and is presented properly, it might have some support,” Reimal said of another Independence police sales tax proposal. “That’s going to take a concerted effort.”

THE FALLS AT CRACKERNECK CREEK
The upcoming budget year includes more than $4.1 million to fund the anticipated shortfall on debt service payments for bonds that were issued for The Falls at Crackerneck Creek, which is anchored by Bass Pro Shops. To compensate for these needed funds, City Hall will be closed three days, city employees will be required to pay an increased share of their health and dental premiums, and the city’s undesignated fund balance will remain at less than 5 percent of the general fund revenues.

“We absolutely had to pay it,” Young said of covering the gap of the payment due to bondholders. “There was no way around it.”

Attorney Steve Mauer is still representing the city in the ongoing issue, and Young said possible litigation is still pending between the city and the developers.

“These types of things, unfortunately, take years and years and years,” Young said.
 
DECLINING SALES TAX REVENUE
In a city that relies on sales tax revenues for services like police, fire, streets, parks and stormwater improvements, Heacock wrote in his budget overview that “revenue growth in the general fund is not keeping pace with increased costs for providing services.”

“We are projecting sales tax revenues that are as low as we saw five years ago, and unfortunately, our expenses are at current-day levels,” District 1 Council Member Marcie Gragg said. “My constituents express frustration over the need to cut as deeply as we are in the budget. However, they seem to understand that it is a necessary evil.”

Americans also are continuing to pay more for food, cars and clothing, the U.S. Department of Labor reported this week regarding the Consumer Price Index in May, and Page said he has especially seen the effect of those increases on his constituents, which include a majority of the city’s residents who are older than age 70.

“They’re just so apprehensive about the economy and the fact that most of them are on fixed incomes means that they aren’t really spending right now,” Page said. “They’re trying to hold on to what they’ve got and weather the storm. It’s hard on everybody, and the city is the in the same position as everybody right now.”

Sources are varied when it comes to a recovery from the most recent recession, which took hold three years ago, but last week, President Obama told Americans in his weekly address that people should be patient for an economic turnaround.

“I’ve never seen budget issues like this before and the cuts we’re going to have to make across the board – it’s tough,” Page said. “This council’s had to make some really, really tough decisions.”

REDUCTION IN FORCE
Sixteen filled positions were eliminated as part of the 2011-12 budget year. At-Large Council Member Jim Schultz called the reductions in force “the most difficult” part of the process for him.

“These are families that are going to have a different way of life after this budget than they did before,” Schultz said. “These are people and families that we know and that we’ve been around.”

He recognized that the financial challenges facing Independence are not unlike other cities, states or even the country, “but it doesn’t change the fact that these families’ lives are going to change because of the position that we’re in,” Schultz said.

In May, Heacock said a majority of those affected in the 16 positions were reassigned and will remain employed by the city, while four people will retire. About five people, then, will have lost their jobs with the city.

“We continue to work on that human element,” Heacock said. “I think that’s very important and underlies everything we do.”