Aid to boost reserve funds, personnel, Sanitation Capital Plan
The Bartlesville City Council took action on several measures Monday including the allocation of remaining funds provided to the City through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Act is a $2.2 trillion federal stimulus bill signed into law in March 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The stimulus package provides municipalities with funds to help recoup expenses incurred since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic and to assist with preparations to help reduce spread of the virus in the future. Grant funds for the state were administered through the State of Oklahoma, which allocated the funds based on population.
The City of Bartlesville received $2,785,987 in funding on Sept. 24. The council approved the adoption of a resolution to accept the funds during a meeting last month. City Manager Mike Bailey told the council Monday that staff had identified several priorities that were not met during the budget process due to the financial crisis prompted by the pandemic that the funding would allow the City to now meet.
“During the City Council meeting when the resolution was adopted, City staff discussed a plan to revisit the budget and determine what priorities were not able to be met due to the economic crisis created by the Covid pandemic,” said Bailey. “One other note that was discussed that evening is the fact that further federal funding is unlikely to be approved for local governments even if the Covid pandemic/economic crisis drags on indefinitely.
“With these two factors in mind, staff is recommending that $1 million of CARES Act funding be set aside in the event that the economy does not recover as quickly as we anticipate. Staff is also recommending that two years of funding be set aside for any recurring expense funded with CARES Act money.”
Personnel
In addition to the $1 million to be set aside in the event of a severe economic downturn, the funding will be used to provide City employees with a 1 percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) and, for employees who are eligible, a 2.5 percent merit increase for the current fiscal year, which was not included in this year’s budget due to economic uncertainties caused by the virus. The amount includes money to fund the 2020-21 increases next year as well.
“We try not to commit to ongoing expenses with one-time funding, so putting money aside to cover these increases next year will ensure that this year’s increases are covered in the budget through 2023,” Bailey said.
The funding will also allow for the reclassification of some entry level positions to better compete with market rate and recruit qualified employees. Those positions include police officer, firefighter, maintenance worker and sanitation collector.
Sanitation Capital Plan
The funding will also replenish the Sanitation Capital Plan, which suffered a shortfall this year when utility rates were not increased on July 1 in an effort to help ease the burden for the City’s utility customers.
“In order to keep rates flat for the current fiscal year, funding for the Sanitation Capital Plan was reduced by about $620,000,” Bailey said, noting that the shortage, if not replenished, will result in a future delay in the purchase of automated sanitation trucks.
An amount of $500,000 of the CARES Act funding will be used to restore the capital plan to a more sustainable level.
Other allocations
Other allocations for the funding include replenishment of dwindling Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for City employees, and financial assistance to the Bartlesville Community Center, which is one of the City of Bartlesville’s public trust authorities. Of all the City’s trust authorities, which include the Bartlesville Development Authority and Bartlesville Redevelopment Trust Authority, the BCC has been hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
Total CARES Act allocations
“We have attempted to fund the most significant budget priorities that were unable to be met in the current budget due to the Covid-related economic uncertainty,” Bailey said.
“The City’s greatest asset and largest expense is our personnel. The increases included in this plan will increase morale, decrease turnover and expand our pool of qualified applicants. In addition, City staff has reserved a significant portion of these funds in an attempt to provide some certainty through the next fiscal year.”
The CARES Act funding allocated to the City of Bartlesville will be used for the following expenses:
- 1 percent COLA increase for fiscal years 2020-21 ($165,000) and 2021-22 ($165,000)
- 2.5 percent merit increases for fiscal years 2020-21 ($215,000) and 2021-22 ($345,000)
- Salary re-classifications for fiscal years 2020-21 ($120,000) and 2021-22 ($120,000)
- $22,600 addition to Stabilization Reserve Fund related to personnel expenses
- $1 million for fixed addition to Stabilization Reserve Fund
- $500,000 to fund 80 percent of deficit in Sanitation Capital Plan
- $100,000 for Bartlesville Community Center Trust Authority assistance