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Florissant Budget Debate:
Council, Mayor Don’t See Eye to Eye
On ‘18 Budget & Retirement Incentive
The lines have been drawn between Mayor Tom Schneider and members of the City Council over the 2018 Florissant City Budget for 2018 and a Retirement Incentive Opportunity Bill.
Mayor Schneider had vetoed that bill and the Council, as expected, overrode the veto last Monday and also approved the 2018 budget Monday night.
Schneider said he was compelled to veto the Retirement Incentive bill it because “it will seriously jeopardize this administration’s ability to provide services to our residents. If this veto is overridden.” He added: “I will be obligated to report all disruptions of Florissant municipal services caused by this ordinance to the Florissant public through the usual communication methods.
The mayor had already sent the budget bill back to the Council unsigned after several meetings in which, Council president Jackie Pagano said the Council “reluctantly made several cuts,” including 10 percent across the board for administration and 5 percent for Public Works.
“I have already formed a budget committee“ Pagano said in the statement. “We will immediately start working on the budget for 2019.”
She said they want to reduce spending “in ways that least impact the services of our residents…and have a balanced budget that will preserve our dwindling cash services.”
The mayor stated the goals in the bill (#9326), authorizing a one-time retirement incentive opportunity for qualified employees, are:
- The success of this program will require (a) reduction in (the) total full-time workforce.
- All non-essential positions vacated by retirement will be eliminated.
- To be fiscally responsible and reduce the number of full-time positions
Pagano’s statement on why the Council passed the Retirement Incentive Plan listed several reasons for the action. Among them were:
- It rewards city employees who are already eligible for retirement under the current city retirement plan.
- It allows upward mobility to other employees who wish to take on a new roll within in the city.
- It also helps to reduce costs and cut into the many years of deficit spending using our dwindling cash reserves. This reduction will not be just for this year, but for many years to come.
“There are safeguards built into the plan that will allow for essential positions to be filled immediately, or to allow others to temporarily assume the duties of the person retiring with an increase in pay,” Pagano added. “Had the mayor proposed a budget that reduced spending from the general fund, and did not require continued use of our cash reserves, perhaps this plan would not have been adopted,” she added.
