As Columbus’ mayor and city council continue to work toward a 2013 budget deadline of Sept. 14, some last-minute financial discoveries have increased the city’s deficit by almost $100,000.
According to Chief Financial Officer Mike Bernsen, the increases are mostly from employee benefits.
“We discovered last Thursday our retirement (costs) are going to increase,” said Bernsen on Wednesday. “It’s going up … about one-and-half-percent. It’s an additional $36,000 to the deficit. Blue Cross Blue Shield (the city’s insurance provider) is going to have about $64,000 in increases. We felt we could absorb this through our insurance reserves. In 2014, our medical coverage is going to look completely different and we are going to have to make some tough decisions.”
The new additions to the Fiscal Year 2013 budget increases the deficit from around $232,000 to $326,115.
Another eleventh hour addition is $58,000 in committed money for a new shooting range for the Columbus Air Force Base. On Tuesday, the city voted to commit the funds to match a commitment from the county. The commitments were made at the request of Columbus-Lowndes Development Link CEO Joe Max Higgins. The resolution is part of a grant through the Mississippi Development Authority for support for the CAFB when Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) talks resume.
“We are already looking at some property,” Higgins said. “This will be a 14-lane shooting range with some covered areas for bad weather. We will also eventually build some offices and restrooms. The first part of this project should be completed pretty quickly.”
Mayor Robert Smith suggested the city take the money out its reserve cash funds.
“We have $549,000 in our insurance reserves,” said Smith. “We will just take the money out of the reserves (for the deficit).”
The thought of substantially depleting the city’s reserve money has some council members wondering if more cuts could have been made from the budget. This is the second year in a row the city has covered a budget deficit with reserve funds.
One source of concern is additional hires for the Columbus Police Department requested by Chief Selvain McQueen. Although the board approved two new hires earlier in the year in the form of a second assistant chief and a commander, the additional cost of $140,000 added to the budget permanently has some council members wondering if the new hires couldn’t have waited.
“We just saw the deficit numbers grow,” said Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem on Wednesday. “I was already kind of skeptical about the budget but now I’m getting very concerned. What direction do we need to take? Some of my constituents have expressed their concerns, and I have been getting some phone calls on which way the mayor and council is going with the budget. There are some personnel increases and raises and other things we could look at. I’m not certain we need an additional $140,000 in new hires in the police department.”
Ward 6 Councilman Bill Gavin has also expressed his concerns over the new hires and using the city’s reserve money to balance the budget. Gavin stated previously he would more than likely not vote in favor of the proposed budget.
“I regret we are going into the city’s reserves,” said Gavin. “This is where a lot of cities find themselves in trouble. The cost of doing business has gone up for everyonet, and gas is a large part of that. It’s a tremendous cost on our budget. I do we think we need a lot of these things in the budget but I think we could have waited for them — like the two positions at the police department. How are we going to pay for these things? We are dipping into the reserves again and it concerns me. I don’t intend to vote for the budget, but it will pass.”
The city has approximately $2.2 million in reserve funds.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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