When Iola City Council members gather tonight to continue discussions on the citys 2020 budget, theyll have a few more items to ponder.
In the second night of a two-day budget workshop Thursday, Council members discussed ways to curb spending on salaries, a potential hike in health insurance rates, and the citys ongoing troubles with keeping its water fund out of the red.
Tonights 6 oclock meeting will be in the Creitz Recital Hall of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, because of ongoing preparations for the Allen County Fair at Riverside Park.
The water fund is among the more pressing issues, Mayor Jon Wells noted, because the city still does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses.
Council members gave the city a little breathing room last year, by eschewing a $200,000 transfer from the water fund to the general fund, and making a $600,000 water plant payment out of the capital projects fund instead.
But even with those measures, Iola still loses money with every glass of water it sells, Wells said, which is not a very good business model.
Council members approved a water rate hike in 2018, but voted against a pair of others recommended by City Administrator Sid Fleming.
Right now, we dont have a rate structure to cover all of the expenses out of the water fund, Fleming said. My thought is, you get the rate set where you can do that.
In a nutshell, the Council will be asked to approve another rate hike (or two) in the near future.
In response to a question from Councilman Aaron Franklin, Fleming said he has not yet formulated how much of a rate increase is necessary.
COUNCILWOMAN Nancy Ford, looking at the citys salaries, noted a workforce study spearheaded by Wichita State University should be delivered to the Council soon.
The Council would be well served to pay heed to the studys recommendations, Ford said.
Are there places not by firing or alying anybody off that we can bring personnel numbers down? she asked, pointing instead to attrition, and eventual cross-training of departments.
One of the big concerns facing the Council in 2020, is a projected 12 percent increase in health insurance premiums.
Thats the number were looking at, based on the number of claims weve had in the past year, Fleming said Wednesday.
