Sikeston residents speak out on FY22 city budget

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Sikeston residents had their first chance to speak out on the City of Sikeston’s budget for fiscal year 2022 at Monday’s City Council meeting.

“We’ve been working on the budget for a couple of months,” said Sikeston City Manager Jonathan Douglass, who noted the Council still has the opportunity to move the budget up or down or move funds from one place to another before it is finalized on June 7.

Douglass said the largest source of revenue for the City is the sales tax.

“Our sales taxes were surprisingly strong during the pandemic,” Douglass said. “Last year we were very conservative not knowing what impact the pandemic would have on city tax revenues. We don’t how predictive that will be for the upcoming year. Sales taxes are somewhat volatile, not just here but everywhere.”

Douglass said to be conservative, they have budgeted sales tax receipts to be the same as they were in the previous fiscal year. He also added they had a new source of revenue that’s reflective in the budget, the first full year of the use tax.

One of the highlights in the budget included an increase in employees annual salaries.

“That addresses some market competitive issues that we have in public safety, in attracting and retaining employees, but also in response to at the lower end of the pay scale,” Douglass said. “At the lower end of the pay scale, our entry-level positions have been really negatively impacted by minimum wage increases and other, probably stimulus funds. And we are having a terrible time hiring people at the low end of the pay scale, so this help that somewhat.”

In the first draft of the budget, two positions will be added: a building maintenance person and also a skilled worker within the street department.

Other highlights in the budget include: funds to begin replacement of Fire Station 2 on East Main Street, funds providing for construction financing and longer term debt service for infrastructure on the south side of town associated with the industrial park, included investments in street maintenance and money for a new pavement condition index program that would measure the condition of the streets from year to year so City staff can tell if they are making progress or not toward catching up on street maintenance.

Other items include: funds for traffic calming at Salcedo and Columbine, several airport improvements, Clinton Building improvements, gravel access road through the Bootheel Golf Course, new playground equipment at Clayton Park and a public bathroom in Downtown Sikeston at a location to be determined.

Several residents spoke out wanting improvements at Roberta Rowe Park and Dancler Field, including working lights.

Sikeston Parks and Recreation Director Dustin Care said plans to improve the infield at Dancler Field have already been made and should be completed in May or June. He also added new lights could cost upwards of $200,000 and will get an estimate to Council before the May 24 meeting.

Other items such as extra benches and pavilions were also suggested.

Sikeston City Councilwoman Onethia Williams questioned why the lights were an unbudgeted item.

“We’ve been talking about the lights for as long as I can remember,” Williams said.

Douglass said it would really just be a council decision on where to spend the money.

Sikeston Mayor Greg Turnbow said besides the estimate on the lights, he would like to know about usage and if the usage in the park would increase if the improvements were made.

“It’s not been used a ton, but it’s also not in great shape,” Douglass said.

“The fence is rusty, there are no dugouts, there is nothing up there,” Williams said, adding the park is not properly taken care, often with high grass.

After the public hearing was closed, Council approved the proposed wage increases for city employees, effective with the next pay period. Douglass said the use tax would cover the increases for the rest of this fiscal year and by approving the increases now it would help fill positions within the City and DPS quicker.

Another public hearing on the budget will be held May 24 and the budget is set to be finalized by Council on June 7.

Other Action

• Reappointed Greg Colwick, Libby Caskey and Trevor Miller to the Library Board of Trustees

• The Sikeston Department of Public Safety was awarded with FY20 Region Homeland Security Oversight Committee Grant in December. With the grant, DPS has been able to prioritize new equipment.

Council approved an upgrade of air monitoring systems to include install, configuration and testing of all Sikeston DPS equipment using an automatic calibration system.

Council also approved an upgrade of the current confine space rescue equipment and DPS will have a technical rescue air cart with two 60-minute bottles; four Scott escape respirators and all hose and adaptors.

The total cost of both projects is $22,768.86 with the grant covering 100% of the cost.

• Awarded a bid for pest control services for two years to Terminix in the amount of $5,964 annually. Terminix currently holds the contract for pest control services.

• Awarded the bids for three HVAC unites to Marty Presley’s Heating and Cooling in the amount of $25,430. This price includes a Carrier 10-ton commercial packaged air-handling unit with control system and a Carrier 10-ton air-cooled condensing unit ($12,976) for the second floor of City Hall (Planning/Code area); a Carrier 5-ton commercial packaged air-handling unit with control system and a Carrier 5-ton air-cooled condensing unit ($5,574) (Municipal Court Building); and a Carrier 3-ton commercial packaged air-handling unit with control system and a Carrier 3-ton air-cooled condensing unit ($6,880) for the IT area of the second floor of City Hall.

The 10 ton and 5 ton units are included in this year’s current budget. The 3 ton unit was not included in this year’s budget, however, is being funded with cost savings from the City Hall bathroom project.

• Approved a bid for tuckpointing and painting of the front of City Hall, to Tom’s Tuckpointing for $33,774. The City will provide the paint and after they decide a color Tom’s Tuckpointing is prepared to get started, according to Sikeston Public Works Director Jay Lancaster, who is hopeful the work can be finished by the end of June.

• Approved a proposal from TKE Elevator for $75,547 to modernize and repair the elevator at City Hall. One of the goals of the current budget was to upgrade the elevator at City Hall, which is known for being very problematic and often not working. The maintenance cost are often very expensive and the original manufacturer told city staff they can’t guarantee it working much longer.

The proposal from TKE Elevator comes in well under budget.

The next Sikeston City Council meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. May 24 at Sikeston City Hall.

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