Iola City Council members approved a number of personnel changes Monday.
Justin Turner, a member of the Iola Fire Department, has resigned, as has Tony Godfrey, assistant code enforcement officer.
Turner told council members in a letter he had accepted a job with another fire and ambulance department. Godfrey is leaving the city to focus full time on his ministry with Harvest Baptist Church. He will remain on staff until newcomers to the department are trained. Council members hired Shonda Jefferis in July as code enforcement officer.
Meanwhile, council members approved the hiring of Charles Ecton and Andrew Hill within the fire department, Jared Keagle as animal control officer and David Harrison with the Sanitation Department.
Council members also approved annual or six-month evaluations for six other employees and subsequent pay raises ranging from 1.6 percent to 3.5 percent.
THE CITY’S $28.5 million budget for 2013 was formally adopted at Monday’s meeting.
The budget is supported in part by an ad valorem tax levy of 37.792 mills.
That means the owner of a $60,000 home will pay about $260 in property taxes this year to support Iola’s general fund. The figure does not account for property taxes levied by the county, USD 257 or Allen Community College.
To go along with the budget, council members approved an ordinance that caps the Iola Public Library’s mill levy at 5.715 mills.
The cap had been set at 5.5 mills, Slaugh said, but past commissions and the current council approved budgets exceeding that figure since the old cap was instituted in 2007.
COUNCIL members approved paying the city’s auditing firm Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk & Loyd $17,000 for the company’s work to complete Iola’s 2011 audit. The council denied the firm’s request for another $1,950 for what the auditors described as “additional work” regarding a closer study of Iola’s ambulance budget.
Auditors described the ambulance collections process in 2009 and 2010 as a “material weakness” because uncollected bills have not been properly reconciled.
While the auditors may have felt justified in seeking compensation for the additional work, it was not agreed upon in advance by the council, Slaugh said.
The payment authorization passed 5-1, with Beverly Franklin opposed.
Councilmen also approved purchase of a software module from Tyler Technologies for $7,675. The software will tie all of the city’s department funds together so when a purchase order is produced, it will immediately validate available budget money for that purchase. The new software also assures a continuous numbering system for all purchase orders within the city.
The city will pay an annual maintenance fee of $1,544 for the module.
