Geneva council OKs budget, pay concessions
The Geneva city council approved a $71.76 million 2011-12 budget Monday night, after debating a last-minute proposal to add $5,000 for the Cultural Arts Commission.
The budget projects income of $71.3 million. It includes expenditures in the general fund budget of $14.64 million, an electrical fund budget of $32.44 million and a water/wastewater fund budget of $8.51 million. The electrical and water/wastewater funds are supported primarily by user fees, not property taxes. It is 11.5 percent over this year’s projected actual expenditures. But those actual expenditures are 4.2 percent less than the 2010-11 budget.
Alderman Ray Pawlak earlier in the night expressed reservations about the city agreeing to not lay off firefighters or electrical workers, part of a deal worked out with their unions in exchange for pay concessions.
“My concern is giving up a right that if the state continues to be in (economic) peril prohibits us from laying off,” he said, though he voted for the side agreements.
Resident John Devine echoed those concerns, after saying it was “magnanimous” on the part of the firefighters to forego a 1.75 percent pay increase. Devine also asked if city officials had determined if Geneva had a sufficient number of electrical workers and firefighters, or if it could cut if it had to and still provide adequate service.
Mayor Kevin Burns was spirited in his reply to Devine, when he saw Devine smirking in the middle of Burns’ response. When asked why, Devine said it was a reaction to being lectured by Burns, who then said Devine made a good victim and told Devine to let him finish his statement. When Devine pointed out that the mayor had interrupted himself to ask about the smirk, Burns retorted, “Join the council. Participate in the negotiations. You can deem what is appropriate and what is a fair trade-off.”
Burns later said Devine thinks “anyone who works for the city should be ashamed,” before Pawlak, who was on the receiving end of the mayor’s criticism at a meeting several weeks ago, called for a point of order and the mayor quickly apologized.
Alderman Ron Singer proposed restoring $5,000 for the Cultural Arts Commission. While pointing out that they were in favor of cultural arts and value the commission’s work, several aldermen said they couldn’t justify voting for even that small amount while cutting employees’ pay or discussing needs vs. wants on things such as a UV water sanitation bulb for the water treatment plant.
Even the normally cheerful Alderman Dawn Vogelsberg was critical, saying she couldn’t understand how, after just voting on the pay concessions, “the very next issue is, ‘Hey, here is something that wasn’t in the budget, let’s give $5,000 to the cultural arts. ... I don’t think we can argue out of both sides of our faces.”
Pawlak voted against the budget because, he said, it was unbalanced, because the police and fire pension funds were underfunded, and because the water department is replacing a truck he believes does not warrant replacement. That truck replacement, however, is being made out of the current budget. City Administrator Mary McKittrick said that the budget is balanced, according to standards set by Illinois law.
The only other “no” vote came from Alderman Ralph Dantino. He voted against it because the water fund calls for increasing billing rates, which he opposes.