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Florissant City Council and the City’s 2018 Budget
Council Okays Budget;
Schneider Won’t Veto it,
Sends it Back Unsigned
By Carol Arnett
The Florissant City Council passed a budget for fiscal year 2018 after some discussion of specific bills related to the budget. However, Mayor Tom Schneider has sent the budget back to the council unsigned.
In his message, Mayor Schneider noted that timing of the passage of the budget just before the new fiscal year of Dec. 1 “means that a veto of the budget would create a drastic challenge to all departments especially the finance department and could potentially create disruptions of services to our residents. Therefore I will not veto the 2018 budget and allow it to go into effect.”
The mayor stated that by sending the budget back unsigned it is his “official protest and a bookmark for future councils and administrations to reference when they consider a more prudent and pragmatic approach to giving the maximum amount of service to our residents that city resources can provide.”
The main issue of contention was the recommended use of the new Public Safety revenue provided by the passage of St. Louis County Proposition P last April, the mayor said in a statement. The city council’s stated approach to the use of the new sales tax funds was that it be used only for “new” expenditures. “In practice this stated objective was not met as the council amended the budget for the purchase of replacement police cars with Proposition P funds.,” the mayor stated
The council also passed several bills relating to the budget for the city’s fiscal year 2018. While first approved the budget, four other bills supported the budget. The first authorized a one-time retirement incentive opportunity for certain full-time employees. Another bill changed some job classification. Another established a compensation plan for part-time employees, and the last bill added the position of Economic Development Coordinator.
The bill passed with some Councilmen Jeff Caputa and Tim Jones voting “no,”
Councilman Joe Eagan made an amendment to the incentive bill. He said the way it was written would allow up to 40 employees. His amendment, he said, would take the number down to 20 to 25 employees. His amendment failed. Eagan said that he was worried all eligible employees would take the incentive. Councilman Tim Lee said that he did not think all would retire.
In other action, the council:
- Postponed a bill regarding residential real estate until the December meeting.
- Passed bills authorizing Del Taco on Lindbergh antdThai Kitchen on Lindbergh Blvd.
- Passed a bill approving the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for fiscal year 2018.
- Passed a bill authorizing the mayor to enter into a lease agreement with Yamaha Motor Finance Corporation for the leas of golf carts. Eagan said he had a problem passing the bill when he did not see the lease agreement until 6 p.m., just an hour and a half before the meeting. Several council members agreed with him.
City Attorney John Hessel advised the council that since the bill was introduced the same night as the final vote, it must be passed unanimously. Several members voted no and the bill failed.
