Eagleville city councilmen began work on a proposed 2007-2008 budget at a workshop last week that, as it now stands, would call for a 5-cent property tax increase and minimal expenditures for police.

The proposed budget also calls for a 21.4 percent or $8,210 increase in the total pay package for the city recorder, which includes a proposed $5,760 for new health insurance coverage.

In addition, the proposal calls for hiring a new employee who would be the part-time park director.

The city is expected to have the first of three readings on the spending plan at the next council meeting on Thursday, May 24, at 7 p.m.

The second reading will be June 18 at 7 p.m., and a public hearing and a third and final reading is slated for June 21 at 7 p.m. The budget is to be adopted by the end of the fiscal year which is June 30.

Near the end of last week’s workshop, the proposed budget stood at just $1,000 of projected income over expenses. Vice Mayor Ronnie Hill said it was not good business to propose such a tight budget, and Councilman Harold Vincion agreed.

Hill noted that for at least the last two years the city has been spending over its budget. He said the city had to take out $20,000 from a $40,000 certificate of deposit last July soon after the new budget passed just to pay the bills.

The Aug. 24, 2006, council meeting minutes show that the council agreed to take out $20,000 from the city’s certificate of deposit to pay the auditor and pay the interest payment that was due Sept. 1, 2006.

A 5 percent property tax increase would take the city’s tax rate to 92 cents and would bring in $4,350, making an ending estimated balance of more than $5,000.

Hill made the motion to increase taxes 5 percent to support the spending proposal as presented,

and Vincion seconded it. All the councilmen but M.A. Smitty and Greg Buchanan voted to propose the tax increase.

"I think the more we get the more we spend," Buchanan said. "If we tighten the money up then maybe in another year or so we will have more money and can start saving a lot."

Vincion said it is good to keep the tax rate low but it might be better to raise it a small amount periodically because of the increase in gas costs and other expenses.

"I think sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot by not raising it a little bit along the way," he said.

Barham noted the city’s expenses will be about $30,000 less in the fiscal year 2009 budget because the bonds for the sewer system that the city never realized will be paid off.

"We borrowed $500,000 but by the time we got the interest on it over 20 years, it jumped to where we owed up to about $850,000,"Barham said. "We tried to pay something down on it but they wouldn’t let us."

The budget proposed for the next fiscal year is balanced in part by cutting more than $36,000 in expenses from what was proposed in the current police department budget.

Barham said it would be a while before the city decided what to do about a police department so he put just a minimal amount of money in the police budget.

Currently the city’s only police officer and police chief, Everett Stone, is retiring. City council has yet to decide on whether the city should pay him back pay for the time he has been on unpaid administrative leave during a state agency’s investigation of his training and employment records.

Barham is proposing just $15,000 in salaries for police for next year compared to the $42, 558 salary proposed in the current budget. Barham is estimating the city will spend only $38,893 this year for police salary but it is unclear if that amount includes any extra money for the potential back pay.

"My proposal is that this (the $15,000 salary) allows money in the budget for 10 hours a week," he said.

Barham suggested a police officer could be used at the park and around town on weekends. Besides the usual sheriff’s department patrol, two police officers and a detective live in the Eagleville area, he said.

"We even have (officers) driving down Cheatham Springs Road," Barham said. "They have to want to be there to be there. They are giving us good coverage."

Councilman Smitty spoke strongly against cutting the police department so much.

"I don’t want the perception of police I want police," he said, noting that the city needs traffic control at the school and someone to slow down speeders.

Ralph Cross from the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS), who helped on the budget proposal, told council members it might not be wise to eliminate the police department "per se" at this time.

"You are trying to establish the park and have a nice place for quality of life for people to use the park," Cross said. "You may be spending more money trying to fix what is broken if they don’t think there is any police protection here."

He also said if no one is here to write tickets that drivers are not going to care too much about watching the speed limit.

Barham said he is talking with county Sheriff Truman Jones about proposals for police protection for Eagleville but said he does not see any agreement being reached for two or three months.

The sheriff’s department already patrols the Eagleville area.

The mayor is proposing increasing the salary City Recorder Michelle Bennett receives for her city recorder duties by 3 percent from $35,252 to $36,310. The pay she receives for administrative work that she does for the fire department would go from $3,108 to $4,500.

The mayor is also proposing $5,760 for insurance. The $5,760 cost includes a proposal that the city pays 80 percent of a $475 a month catastrophic insurance policy plus $100 a month for a health savings account. Bennett would match the $100 a month for the health savings account.

Barham said he proposed Bennett’s insurance benefit in return for her agreeing not work overtime.

"We are not doing her right in paying overtime because she has to pay taxes on (the overtime pay)," he said.

According to the ending estimate for what will be spent this year, Bennett will be paid a total of $12,352 more than what was budgeted for her city recorder and fire department duties. This amount appears to be for overtime pay. According to the estimate, her total compensation for the year ending June 30th would be $50,712.

Barham said two unexpected occurrences contributed to the need for overtime. He cited problems concerning the property taxes and the investigation into the police department.

"I can’t tell you what a nightmare (the property tax issue) has been for us," he said.

And, he said, the police issue disrupted city hall office for six weeks.

"In my opinion it was totally unnecessary," he said.

One of the questions concerning overtime is whether Bennett is hourly, on a fixed salary or on a non-exempt type salary which allows hourly pay for overtime work. Some of the council members indicated they thought she was to be on a fixed salary since the first of the year.

Councilman Smitty objected to Barham’s city recorder pay proposal saying "every year we say we are not going to go over on overtime and every single year we have. And every single year we say we are not going to pay our extra administrative staff more and we go over it every single year."

Barham replied that the city has never offered the city recorder an incentive before.

"Here we are saying we are going to do this for you but you are not going to charge us overtime," Barham said. "If mistakes have been made in the past, fine, but I am telling you I have told her no more overtime and to compensate for that we will offer this package for you."

Smitty said he supports providing Bennett insurance if she wants and needs it but the council has no way "of policing the overtime other than the mayor saying we are going to shut down at a certain time."

At the end of the workshop, the compensation proposal for the city recorder stood as Barham initially presented it.

"We realize you are a multi-department here," Barham told Bennett. "We expect more of you than we should, and we ask more of you than we should. You don’t get paid enough. I don’t see how we can do anything else other than this and you agreed to this package."

Vice Mayor Hill, who heads the park committee, presented a proposal for a hiring a park director for the new city park.

The details of the position were worked out between Hill and Jeff Mooneyham, who has volunteered at the park since its beginning and has already been scheduling and coordinating the activities on the three ball fields. Hill is suggesting Mooneyham for the park director position.

According to the proposal, the director would be paid a $6,400 salary annually. He would report to Hill and the park committee.

The director’s duties would include ordering and stocking the concession stand, janitorial and litter pickup, playground inspection, coordinating maintenance and repairs, ball field preparation, coordinating the ball field, park and pavilion usage and park volunteers plus possible other duties.

The director would not be responsible for mowing, trimming, landscaping, grading, repairs and maintenance. Council members suggested including $2,000 in the budget for mowing next budget year.

Plus the director would be paid $100 and up per any special event held at the park, such as ball tournaments, car shows, festivals, yard sales and other activities.

Separate from the salary, the director would get 60 percent and the city 40 percent of any fees paid by participants in ball tournaments that would be held outside the youth’s regular ball season. The regular ball season runs from March to the first of July, Hill said.

The city would receive all the money from the concession stand and would have to pay the food costs. The park director would provide the concession stand workers at no cost to the city.

Any gate fees that were charged during the tournaments would go to those putting on the tournament.

The council members’ discussion included whether the city would have to advertise the park director position if he were a city employee and if the park director spot should be a contract position instead of becoming a city employee. They also questioned what oversight would be in place concerning money coming in and money spent.

Councilmen Terry Zumbro and Smitty spoke for making the park director position a contract position. Zumbro said the arrangement for paying the director a percentage of the fees and other aspects for the outside tournaments are more reasons to treat the director as an independent contractor.

Hill said Mooneyham wants the city to take out taxes, which would require the position to be a city employee.

Among other expenses, the proposed park budget estimates lights for the park will cost $1,800, water, $300, and concession supplies, $7,500. Hill said the profit from the concession stand to date has been about 50 percent after the food costs.