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Regular City Council Meeting <br />July 28 , 2003 <br />Page 5 <br />Manager Malone asked for direction as to which one the City Council would <br />like submitted. Councilman Bell asked if he had a calculated figure for what <br />each 1% increase across the board amounts to in dollars and cents. The City <br />Manager advised that he did not have that at this time unless the Director of <br />Finance could do a quick calculation on that. Gene Anderson, Director of <br />Finance, advised that they have not pulled those numbers together, but could <br />give that number by August 7, 2003. <br />City Manager Malone advised the City Council that most of the department <br />heads have presented a very lean budget similar to what they had last year. He <br />informed Council that he has elected to place an additional firefighter back into <br />the Fire Department budget that was eliminated in the present budget. He <br />explained that this would restore the minimum number of employees as <br />recommended by a Citizen / Council Committee several years ago that agreed <br />that the city was going to have a four-station setup. In order to effectively <br />implement the use of that system, the city needs to include that position back <br />into the budget and that will be his recommendation. The City Manager <br />advised that there are grants running out in the Police Department and he <br />wanted to keep those programs going and they are going to receive some <br />income from the schools, but the grants will only fund one and one-half police <br />officers. So, in effect, the proposed budget will be adding one and one-half <br />police officers, one firefighter and one part-time employee for personnel. <br />Councilman Plata said he thought that the last Council voted to cut six firemen <br />through attrition. City Manager Malone said that is correct, but that was not <br />upon his recommendation and the budget that will be presented will be his <br />proposed budget. He said this Council will have the opportunity to have input <br />and they can cut that person out, cut five more out, add, or do whatever they <br />want to. <br />Councilman Guest asked Mr. Anderson what percent of payroll is the benefit <br />package. Mr. Anderson advised that it varies by employee but he estimated it <br />to be 30%-35%. Mr. Anderson explained that we were self-insured and that <br />