The prospect of employee raises was a hot topic for discussion at an Aug. 10 council meeting.

“I can’t see giving raises,” said Council member John Bramlett. “I’d rather wait till January.”

Although, he added that he had faith in the city’s proposed budget.

“I think the budget looks very good,” he said. “I don’t think it’s Cadillac, but it’s Chevrolet.”

Police Chief Domingo Ibarra spoke on behalf of his department, asking the council to consider raises.

“I see a lot of employees trying very hard,” he said. “I realize it’s a tough time, but I don’t want to lose police officers to other stations.”

City Administrator Paul Mendes, who worked on the budget along with Finance Clerk Beverly Standley, said he knew including raises, or what he called “cost of living allowances,” was a long shot.

“I realized when I put pay raises in there I’d be swimming with sharks,” he said.

Mendes said that originally, the budget included 3 percent raises across the board for all city employees. The raises will not be included in the final budget, he said.

“I realized it would be a tough sell, but part of my job is to take care of workers and the city,” he said. “Council’s concern was for the amount spent for raises and the image it would project during tough times. They realized our citizens were being austere and felt the city should reflect those same concerns.”

He said the city approached this year’s budget in “a very conservative manner.”

In the most recent draft, the budget will raise more total property taxes than last year’s budget by $42,603.76, according to the proposed budget released by the city.

The budget proposes that in the 2010-11 fiscal year, the city will bring in a total revenue of $2,268,277.17 from all departments, including city hall/administration, the police department and the municipal court.

Total expenditures are proposed at $2,139,259.37, leaving $129,017.80 left over in revenue.

The numbers are a somewhat significant decrease from last year’s budget, which totaled $2.4 million in expenditures, with projected revenues of $2.6 million.

In the first budget review, the city cut $50,000 from its budget by slashing expenses in the administration, including IT services, office supplies, cell phones and planning commission expenses.

After the second review, the city cut $18,391.98 from personnel services in administration, $11,000 in legal expenses and $10,000 in engineering.

Broken down percentage-wise, the city expects to earn most of its revenue from sales taxes (40 percent), property taxes (21 percent) and the municipal court (24 percent).

Other sources include franchise tax, mixed beverage tax and license and permits.

The council will hold a public hearing Aug. 16 to further discuss the budget and tax rate, both of which will be formally adopted at an Aug. 23 meeting.

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