By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Employee compensation was one of several topics to earn the spotlight during a recent review of the City of Whitewater’s 2017 municipal budget.
Elected officials and administrators have been doing a line item-by-line item review of the city’s operating plan for the year ahead. When he took the wraps off the document a month ago, City Manager Cameron Clapper said no significant changes were in the works.
But there could be some tweaks on the horizon. As had previously been announced, the city contracted with a firm — St. Paul, Minn.-based Springstead — to review the city’s employee wage structure and examine how it stacks against similar municipalities.
During one of four budget review sessions, Clapper announced Springstead completed its analysis of the city’s salary structure and provided possible recommendations for upcoming pay scale changes. Future policy decisions will likely shape upcoming budgets in terms of compensation.
Overall, the company’s findings revealed Whitewater provided its municipal employees a competitive rate. But, as Clapper pointed out in the discussion, “Six general government employees are paid at a rate that falls below the proposed range for their position.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, however, Clapper said Springstead’s findings also revealed, “Sixteen employees have a current wage which falls above the proposed range for their position.”
At the moment, Clapper said the city typically has not performed employee performance reviews. In the future, however, he said the practice will be implemented and is expected to have a greater role in determining future wage increases.
As the countdown to budget adoption fast approaches, Clapper said more concrete pieces of information are bubbling to the surface.
Information from the state Department of Revenue has revealed the city’s tax rate will likely be lower than initially anticipated. Clapper said the budget was built around the assumption the rate would be set at more than $6 per $1,000 of assessed value, though he anticipates it falling below the $6 range.
Also discussed Oct. 25 were the city’s various utility budgets. No rate increases are anticipated for the wastewater and stormwater utilities, but Clapper said a 3-percent water rate increase is in the works to cover increased future costs.
Whitewater’s soon-to-depart parks and recreation director, Matt Amundson, also was on hand to discuss some of the highlights of that specific fund.
For the first time, the city is incorporating the Whitewater Aquatic Center’s operations fund into the municipal budget as part of a structural change in oversight. In its first full year under the city’s auspices, Amundson said WAC’s budget should hover around $868,225.
As had been previously announced, the city’s $9.20 million 2017 budget is a decrease from this year’s budget, which totaled $9.77 million.
Facing budget constraints and declining revenue from other sources, city officials also are planning to increase the city’s property tax levy 6.48 percent.
Residents interested in weighing in on the budget can do so during a formal public hearing scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15. The council is slated to adopt the budget after the hearing.
