BUDGET WORKSHOP:
Town Requests More Staff, Higher Pay, New Truck

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

March 10, 2014

Cape Charles Town Manager Heather Arcos has asked Town Council to approve a 2 percent raise for all town staff. Speaking at a March 6 budget workshop, Arcos reminded Council members that town staff had received no COLA [Cost of Living Adjustment] in FY 2014 and only a 1 percent COLA in FY 2013 and FY 2012.

Arcos also recommended a 93-cent increase in the cost of trash pickup, which is included in residents’ water bills. She noted that under the town’s new contract with Davis Disposal, the current charge per household for trash is $13 per month and will rise in September to $13.50 per month. The increase will add another dollar to residents’ $108 monthly water bill.

Town staff also proposed a change in the utility billing from the current postcard format to a full-size sheet of paper inside a window envelope. Postage costs would increase $1,000 annually, in addition to increased costs for supplies.

Assistant Town Manager Bob Panek and Code Enforcer Jeb Brady presented proposals for lowering the utility connection fees for commercial buildings. Currently the residential hook-up fee of $13,500 is used as a base for commercial buildings. The commercial fee is calculated as a multiple of the residential fee. Panek did not provide details for his new suggested formula, but did give three examples:

— For a 4,000 square-foot retail building the fee would drop from the current $19,080 down to only $1,187.

— For a 50-seat restaurant the fee would rise from today’s $31,800 to $33,920.

— A 100-room hotel currently would pay $120,840 but would see the charge increase to $373,120.

Panek said that the current fees present a barrier for new businesses with low water and wastewater usage to locate in Town. Council member Joan Natali expressed her support for the suggested fee structure change.

Panek was asked to develop an estimated usage table and recommend revisions to Town Code for Council approval.

Harbor Master Smitty Dize requested an additional full-time employee for the harbor, which currently has a staff of two full-time and four seasonal workers. Dize reported that docking fees were increased from $1.50 per foot to $1.75 per foot effective in January. Due to a town policy change, the harbor will no longer receive free water, and so has budgeted $8,723 for water bills in the upcoming fiscal year.

Dize said that due to its current debt load the Harbor Fund could not borrow more money for matching funds to take advantage of a $575,000 grant from the Virginia Port Authority for a third section of breakwater. The breakwater is needed to protect boats in the outer harbor. Plans for the Harbor improvements will not move forward until the current debt is paid off in 2017.

Public Utilities and Works Director Dave Fauber requested an additional employee to work on water and sewer maintenance. Fauber said the Town needs to start training a new employee in preparation for the retirement of a longtime staff member. He also requested $25,000 for a new truck to replace a Dodge police car that was passed on to Public Works.

Councilman Frank Wendell raised concerns about adding more employees to the Town staff. “We are almost $10 million in debt. We need to cut spending and think long and hard about increasing spending. The Town needs to consider making do with the employees we have,” he said.

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Comments

6 Responses to “BUDGET WORKSHOP:
Town Requests More Staff, Higher Pay, New Truck”

  1. Steve Downs on March 10th, 2014 3:15 pm

    Raises, more spending, new vehicles — sounds like the same old [stuff]!

  2. Kristin McClaren on March 11th, 2014 4:51 pm

    Interesting that a COLA increase would be requested in advance of the compensation study which is apparently planned. By comparison, Commonwealth of Virginia employees have received the following pay adjustments in recent years:
    2008 and 2009 – no increase or bonus
    2010 – 3% one time bonus
    2011 – VRS Plan 1 employees received 5% increase to offset mandatory 5% contribution to the retirement plan (state had been paying the 5% for many years in lieu of a pay increase decades ago)
    2012 – 3% one time performance bonus
    2013 – 2% performance pay increase (first pay increase since 2007)

    Also interesting that the cost of trash pick up is going up $0.50 per household, but the Town is proposing a $0.93 increase per month. Just sayin’.

  3. Jeff Walker on March 12th, 2014 4:47 pm

    I’m assuming the difference between the increase in trash costs and the monthly increase is partially due to changing the billing from a card to a sheet inside an envelope. They mentioned increased postage and supplies for the change.

    Our understanding is that under the latest contract with Davis Disposal, the town is paying $13 per household, but is only charging $12.57 on the water bill. The Davis contract escalates to $13.50 per household in September, and the town wants to raise the water bill charge to the full $13.50, or 93 cents higher than the current bill. –EDITOR

  4. M.K. Felch on March 13th, 2014 9:24 pm

    Kristin, just to clarify, the increase state employees received last year was accompanied by a huge increase in healthcare premiums. For employees making under $50,000 and on the family plan, the raise was completely usurped by the healthcare increase.

  5. Kristin McClaren on March 14th, 2014 6:29 pm

    M.K. Felch: I work for the Commonwealth. I used the state information as a comparison to illustrate that many public employees have gone for years in these tough economic times with little or no compensation increase. It seems odd for the town to, on the one hand, commission a compensation study, and on the other, to request a COLA increase in advance of the study. In my personal opinion, the town has made some curious financial decisions given the economic state.

  6. Antonio Sacco on March 24th, 2014 3:03 pm

    Except Frank Wendell, throw the rest of the council out in the next election and don’t let them in the council again.