As details emerge concerning Alexandria’s recently passed balanced budget we just don’t know what was on Mayor Rachford’s mind when he initially proposed a budget with a $180,000 deficit.
We now know that the proposed 3% salary raise for city employees has been replaced with a 1% merit raise.
According to the mayor, employees are only eligible for merit raises if their supervisor recommends it.
We suspect that history will show that all will receive the 1%.
Few if any local cities are providing for any raises at all for the coming year and it’s fully understandable why.
This from a mayor who when he was on council opposed raises during budget committee meetings although he voted to approve those budgets in the end and raised no objections during council meetings.
Another change from the first draft of the budget includes changing the employee benefits, offering employees either a new health insurance plan that the city will pay for or an option to keep the same plan they have this year by paying the difference themselves, Rachford has stated.
Also included in the proposed budget but was subsequently cut was a new parking lot for the Alexandria Community Park with an estimated cost of between $80,000 and $90,000 and resurfacing the city building and community center parking lot at $40,000.
Good projects but why include them in a budget that is in the red?
Mayor Rachford said the revised budget also includes road repair bids that came in $85,000 less than estimated and a budget carry over higher than estimated also helped balance the budget.
The final budget approved by council on June 16 at the second council meeting of the month has an $80,000 surplus.
“We also took a fine tooth comb to everything from fuel to office supplies to make cuts where we could,” Rachford said.
We wonder why that wasn’t done in the initial proposal.
There is $260,000 difference between the proposed and final budget.
We have said it before but we believe that if it were not for two council members publicly criticizing the initial proposed budget that we would be operating with that original budget today.
We like the new mayor, we really do and we realize that he is relatively inexperienced in his new role.
But lots of folks are saying that the talk and promises made during his campaign have not turned into action and they’re wondering why.
