Jacksonville, AL – On August 4th the City Council met to begin the first of many budget work sessions. The first meeting was to focus on revenue, general government, and city council budgets. The second budget work session was on August 8th and focused on the Mayor’s office, human resources, finance, planning, building, public information officer, PARD, train deport, and cemetery budgets.
August 8th
- Mayor’s office – There were minimum changes to last years budget with the exception of the public information offer being removed from the Mayor’s budget and placed as a separate item.
- Human resources – There are little changes, but the drug screening for new employees and random screens are hard to predict. There was a slight increase of $1,500 from last year. This was the only real change. This budget also includes janitorial. There is a 75/25 split with HR absorbing 25%. Once in the new city hall this will increase to having a full-time janitor.
- Finance – There is also little change from last year. There may need to be a few adjustments such as shifting items to different line item. An example would be to move from contract services to software and leases or fees.
- Planning – The main change was to budget for new computers. These would be part of the five year tech plan as well.
- Building – There is a budget item to add an assistant building inspector. This is to start training because Mark Williams is returning in 15 months. There is also a need for another person at this time. This position would be at range 18.
- Public Information Officer (PIO) – This is a new line item as the PIO will become full-time with the city as of October 1st. The costs are estimates and are based on expenses from last year, but the main line item is software and fees for graphic programs.
- PARD – There are many plusses and minuses in this budget. Many items could not be funded. A new item is a $5,000 amount to cover the cost of an engineer determine changes to the HVAC unit. The current unit is 22 years old and is only working at 50%. There will also be an expense for the State Volleyball championship that Jacksonville has been awarded. One of the largest expenses is repair and maintenance. It is the catch-all for all maintenance expenses for the city. A few items that were not funded was the splash pad, a pavilion, and a storage shed. There was a request for a master plan on improving all the parks. There was also a request to look into purchasing additional christmas decorations.
- Senior Center Program – There was little change in this budget other than a known AC replacement of two units and a vehicle that has been ordered, but that has still not come in.
- Train Deport – There will also be additional research on possible audio and sound equipment that may be needed. There was also a request to look into the cost of finishing the building out.
- Cemetery – Main increase is on tree and stump removal.
