Durango City Council agrees that the $94 million municipal budget should be easier to read for laypeople and more clear about income and cost assumptions based on trends and staff experience.
But plenty went undecided about details in the 355-page proposed 2020 budget, and city leaders have just two months to approve the document.
“This council is doing things differently,” said Mayor Melissa Youssef. “We’re taking more time digging into issues.”
City councilors met with staff for more than eight hours on both Monday and Tuesday to discuss the intricacies of the budget. Councilors asked more questions of staff than at budget workshop sessions in years past – and department directors came prepared to answer them.
“New councilors came prepared with a lot of questions, and I think it was very educational for them,” said Dean Brookie, the most senior city councilor. “I think they were impressed with the process, and I would say there were no surprises in the budget.”
But councilors have not yet come to consensus on key decisions, including how or whether to implement wage increases for city employees and how to use dedicated and limited sales tax.
“I don’t know what previous schedules looked like, but this was two full days of very healthy discussions and review of what’s being proposed,” said Councilor Barbara Noseworthy.
Durango does not pay enough to attract new employees and retain existing staff, which will eventually leave the city needing workers, which could lead to a decline in services, according to a July study about city compensation.
The proposed 2020 budget suggests spending an additional $1.9 million on wages, salaries and benefits, Youssef said. There’s also a question of how to implement pay raises for city staff – whether changes should be phased in or made en masse.
“We recognized starting pay is an issue for sure,” Youssef said.
But some councilors questioned the methods of the compensation study and requested more information analyzing salaries for city employees in contrast with comparable private-sector jobs.
“Most of our employees don’t come from other cities,” said City Councilor Kim Baxter, recognizing there are some employees, like police or department management, who come from public organizations.
City Councilor Chris Bettin said pay increases for city staff are “the biggest thing – the budget really doesn’t change much from last year beside the compensation study.”
City Council is scheduled to further discuss the details of the compensation study at a study session scheduled for Nov. 5, Interim City Manager Amber Blake said.
Another significant change to the 2020 budget is the approximately $4.46 million in extra sales-tax revenue approved by voters in April.
The half-cent sales tax is dedicated to pay for “construction, operation and maintenance of streets, alleys, curbs, gutters, sidewalks and related street improvements with proposed expenditures being first submitted to a citizen advisory board,” according to ballot language.
Councilors did not come to consensus about how to use the 2019 tax, debating whether the money should be used for “construction” or “operation and maintenance.” The conversation also extended to the use of a 2015 half-cent sales tax for parks and recreation maintenance and new construction projects and a 2005 quarter-cent sales tax to pay for open space, councilors said.
“One of the best practices in government accounting practices: Don’t use one-time revenues for ongoing expenses,” said Baxter, arguing against using limited sales tax for city operations. “Once revenues go away, how do you pay for the expenses? The council will have to look at, philosophically, how do we want to handle this and how do we prepare for the future, using the revenues we have now knowing that some will sunset.”
Bettin said the city has always used the dedicated sales tax to fund operations and maintenance: “That’s what funds were for,” he said. But using limited tax dollars to fund ongoing work doesn’t solve a structural sustainability problem in the budget, he said.
The limited sales tax passed in April helps the city budget, but the council is still wrestling – like many municipalities countrywide – with how to maintain services with relatively flat revenues and increasing expenditures.
“It’s very much a struggle about priorities in budget,” Bettin said. “But it’s great to have opposing views to talk through.”
bhauff@durangoherald.com
