With the provided draft budget that is on-line, you can't find one thing unless you scroll through it and you luckily might find what you're seeking. There is no search and find feature because most all of the pages have been scanned in from accounting spreadsheets.
I stayed for about an hour at last night's budget workshop. Here are some highlights:
- The preliminary budget is $30.9 million
- Although expenses meet revenues, the graph they presented showed that we are spending more than we will bring in.
- The increase in property tax revenue is approximately $424,000.
- A 4% across the board salary increase is suggested that will cost $960,000. Benefits are expected to increase by 20%. The total personnel services is 23% of budget.
- PBSO is going up by $121,000.
- Police Contract is $12,524,800 or 41% of budget.
- Police pension plan is $2,615,683 of 8% of budget.
- Fire Pension plan is $2,709,016 or 9% of budget.
- Travel and entertainment is estimated at $85,811.
- Water rates up by 4.5%
- Sewer rates up by 5%
- Beach parking up to $2.25 an hour which will generate $170,000 a year
- The city plans on installing a Modular office building at the beach. Location not identified. The pool is still in the Budget.
- They plan on spending $8.7 million at the Park of Commerce from the 2020 Capital Improvement Plan
- We do not yet know if the tax rate will go up. The city has 1.04 mils to play with. The rate last year was 5.4945 with MSTU at 3.4581 mils.
- Our uncontrollable costs will be at $20,749,504 or 67.03% of budget.
23 comments:
So the City of Lake Worth is planning on giving its employees a 4% raise which is nice since none of its employees have seen raise in the last 7 years with the exception of Department Heads and the City Manager coming in at over $100,000 a year in salary. But if they also raise the benefit cost by 20% wouldn't that actually be a reduction in pay after the employee has to pay the increased cost of the benefits taken out of their paychecks? So in essence the hard working city employees are actually losing money because they are paying more?
Personnel services take up 23% of our revenues. i believe that the benefits are included in this figure. We have the best benefit package around and I don't think employees have to pay that much for their personal medical. Bornstein makes $145 a year.
if the above poster is true, then we are in a pretty sad state of affairs in our city, we ask a lot of our people, yet their paychecks have remained the same for over 6 years. while the costs of everyday living have quadrupled, their paychecks have stayed the same. how is that fair? seems the city always finds money for other things but refuses to take care of the people that pull the wagons through these potholed streets.
If they haven't had a raise in 6 years, then a 4% increase will not catch up with the rate of inflation which is probably around 11% for those 6 years. Cost of living should be calculated into the budget but we are in a city that is falling apart. Our priority is the Park of Commerce--some dirt for developers. Maybe everyone should be grateful for being employed in a city with great medical, etc. I don't know the answer here as every city is experiencing the same problem.
I agree, its interesting that the people who make the decisions for raises and benefits are the same individuals that are claiming the economy isn't where it should therefore there is no money in the budget for its knuckle to the dirt employees. Yet they themselves are voting and granting raises for each other? Just seems a little two faced... and are those people we should look up to too bring this city into the future? Its the people that work under the managers and officials that are the ones who can effect real change and improve the city by pride of work and for pride of work to exist the City needs to take a step back and decide to change their ways and value its employees who make them look good the eye of the public. Simply put, "treat the employees better because ultimately its the employees under the big wigs who can make a real change and the sooner "Decision Makers" realize that the sooner this city will get back on track."
Great medical..etc?
For that last years the City has stated to its employees with the slogan, "your lucky to have a job." Which how is that motivating when you see the "Decision Makers" getting raises but not the employees their saying that too? The City has raised medical expenses and premiums of amounts owed with decreasing overall beneficial coverage as a whole. As for the etc. The required service for retirement went from 20 years to 30 years and they are currently trying to change the retirement plans to decrease the amount that they will pay out by multipliers even if an employee makes it to 30 years. I understand every city has its own issues but we are not discussing other cities. We should focus on our city and come up with solutions to improve the quality of life not only for its employees but its citizens.
I agree with you to a certain extent Lynn, you can't get blood from a turnip. but everyone being grateful is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. the economy is improving, and as you can see, the city has a long list of employment opportunities that have been vacant for months. why? just sayin...
I had a job once working for a couple of millionaires in PB...worked for one in the morning and one in the afternoon and the phones rang in both offices so it was like they had a full-time personal assistant all day long. One played golf every day. It was the worst job of my life but I still stuck it out for many years. They liked the idea of having their personal assistant/accountant in their PB offices. I never got a raise but remember giving myself one, one year and didn't get medical insurance. Those were the days when you didn't complain. Sometimes it is the guys with the most who are really close with a buck and won't part with the money. Giving raises to the top and not the bottom of the rung--to the people who actually do the work--is bad business.
If the employees get this raise this time you can bet politics has something to do with it but I am cynical. Here in LW we have other priorities like developers. We are only bringing in $424k more in ad valorem but will spend nearly one million on raises?
Understandably the ad valorem aspect of raises of how an increase in taxes would provide a increase the amount allocated for city employees on a raise standpoint. If completely true than the City Manager and Department Heads giving themselves all raises voted on by a commission in which the citizens of Lake Worth Elected, when in all retrospect they already make twice as much as 90% of all city employees than stating there's no money in the budget for its employees is as you stated, "bad business." Where are they pulling the money from for their annual raises? Sadly the inevitable result is decreased moral for both veteran and newly employed individuals therefore decreasing the efficiency of the work load and initiatives to go above and beyond a job description. Employees are hear to make money, to provide for their families and so on.. at the end of the day a smile and a pat on the back. The city should take time to speak with developers that want to improve the city but also take strong consideration into its employees that make that make the wheels turn. Instead of only considering raises because either political or Employee Union pressure. The employee should be the priority and until they realize that sadly nothing will improve. "Take care of your employees and they will take care of you."
the invitation was very clever and sent by e-mail with an RSVP to someone at Hudson
Gulfstream Hotel July 4th
Sent By:
Eileen On:Jun 06/30/15 11:30 AM
To:
Reply to:
"Eileen"
+
Is the person who wrote this:
"For that last years the City has stated to its employees with the slogan, "your lucky to have a job." Which how is that motivating when you see the "Decision Makers" getting raises but not the employees their saying that too?"
...a city employee?
She/he should kneel down every night and Thank God that she/he makes much, more more than is deserved.
It's not YOUR. It's YOU'RE. It's not THEIR. It's THEY'RE.
Learn our F****** language.
A third grader should not make these mistakes!
At your level of education and intelligence, you are qualified to make $9 a hour with no benefits. If you are paid ONE cent more, all of us who live in the city and pay property taxes to support the city are getting ripped off!
To anonymous,
If you are truly focused on my grammatical errors in mistyped words instead of the greater issue and points that have been brought up by more comments than myself in this article than maybe you should take a step back, calm down and present a better augment with factual reasons why you are blatantly against what everyone else is written about. I'm not here to debate you or insult you as you obviously feel the need to do towards me, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Its good to see how other people view what's happening in the City and it opens up the floor for a good discussion but lets do it in a professional manner. Its sadly some people need to attack other people on grounds of mistyped words rather than honest points of discussion.
The issue is raises for our city employees. You have given very, very strong evidence that at least one of our city employees (YOU) is already OVERPAID, and thus does not need, nor is entitled to any raise. How many others, I wonder, who work for our city and have very generous benefits cannot spell at a Third Grade level? Go back to school.
We shouldn't be raising taxes as our tax rate is already quite high, I believe second or third highest in the County. Rather, we need to move more properties onto the tax roll.
How do we do that? First, strong code enforcement directed to the worst properties. Second, the sale of city or foreclosed land to folks that will properly develop it. Third, diligent investigation and effort to remove improper homestead designation from rental homes and vacation rentals (which are illegal). This should be a once a week job of a staff person, they can go through VRBO, figure out the address of the property, look up the owners, look up the homestead designation and if homesteaded report it to the property appraiser as homestead fraud. This will solve two problems, first we will bring in a ton of new tax money, and fees (rental license, business license, etc.) and two it will cut down on the illegal short term rentals.
why is someone attacking someone else over how they spell a few words? lets all just try to be nice to each other cant we? only children fight n bicker; grownups talk about things and offer solutions, not feed to a fire. It just shows how immature you are to whomever anonymous is. thank you
Must be Wess. He does that to the pastor on his blog because he's the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I second that. whoever is attacking someone based on spelling is immature as well as uneducated themselves and obviously does not have any strong points to make. It seems they are just trying to join the conversation the only way they know how... by childish actions.
Good debate. Thanks, guys.
Susan Stanton made more in 2011 than we’re now paying our city manager. A lot of private sector workers haven’t received raises in the last several years. If the money was there they would have most likely received raises. Both private sector and city workers. Look at what’s happening in Greece. The city can’t pay it’s employees raises if the revenue is not there to fund those raises. Now with the changes in healthcare insurance laws most every company I’ve heard this topic being discussed employees contributions and deductibles are higher. Cities have to buy their insurance from the open market just like private sector businesses do. I have never heard a city employee say the cities slogan is, “you’re lucky to have a job”. Sorry, I don’t buy that.
Does it really matter if the individual commenting is a city employee? Do your research the truth is the truth regardless of whose stating it.
Stanton made $150,000 a year. She gave the most in-depth city manager reports and in my opinion, was the most transparent city manager we have ever had. She actually got this city back in the black during her 32 months on the job. It has been trending the opposite way since she was fired by Maxwell, Triolo and Amoroso.
Not WHOSE. WHO'S!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
in response to one statement, "If the money was there they would have most likely received raises."
If the money was there then how did all the higher up's receive raises and ALL the employees did not and haven't for 6+ years?
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